Power
by Vixen7
Summary: A secret operation in the Ministry went out to destroy those that were different when Voldemort was still alive. Kat is the only one who survived, but has no idea about her past. But she better figure it out before the Ministry fixes their mistake.
1. Prologue

Author's Note: This is kind of a Harry Potter & X-men cross over. I love cross overs and this idea was just so good I couldn't resist. You don't have to know much about X-men to understand this, so don't worry. Don't mind me and my dimensions, it's just my thing. Send me reviews; I love 'em! Enjoy reading.  
  
Prologue  
  
The X-men had had trouble with dimensions before, but that was with a professional. When Magnito decides to try this power things go terribly wrong. Rips in time and space become frequent, the barriers between different worlds fade in and out. It is finally stopped by outside influence on their world, the rips and distortions were put together into a place outside time and space, where later Apocalypse resides.  
  
This had its consequences while the rips and distortions took place. People disappeared without a trace, some people come that do not belong to that world, some people simply loose their minds muttering nonsense. The X- men have a hard time controlling all that happened to their world, but they manage. What they failed to do was find all of the missing mutants. There were three: one they found, one had lost their powers, and one was never seen again. This mutant they never found was a girl named Jane, her power was illusion. She was never forgotten and someone always had an eye out for her, but it would be no use.  
  
Jane had fallen through a barrier once to another world. One that had never heard of mutants, but of witches and wizards. With her power of illusion she made a home for herself, she could live in peace, no one knew of her or what she was, and soon she fell in love. Jane didn't realize what she was doing when she had her first child. She hoped it wouldn't be a mutant, it had wizard in it after all. Jane wasn't completely naive about her child though, she kept close eye on her little girl for signs of powers. Soon enough, they came. The little girl was taught how to hide and conceal these powers, not how to use them properly. She ended up having no wizarding blood in her but her father wanted to make sure. The tests he gave her only managed to set off her powers and put him in Mungo's for the rest of his life. Jane and her child were forced to flee before the ministry could catch them.  
  
They managed to get away and go back into society under Jane's illusions. This wasn't necessarily a good thing. There's no such thing as a half mutant, the gene is either there or not. So, as time progressed mutants in families began to spread. The gene could be dormant for generations and then just pop up again. Then Voldemort came to power. He sought out the mutants, wanted their strength on his side. Not many in the magical world knew of mutants, but those who did were interrogated by Voldemort and the Ministry. It was a race to see who found who first. In desperate times a secret group at the Ministry was formed to do what no one else wanted on their hands. It was a small group, but they did their job. They hunted down and destroyed the mutants before Voldemort could get a hold of them, and the ones he already had. The families of whom the mutants came from were destroyed with a cover story of "The Dark Lord's Wrath". Soon, it seemed the entire mutant population was destroyed. Those hunters still alive were rallied together and had their memory wiped. It was not just altered, but wiped completely so that they'd never be able to remember again and no one could try to make them.  
  
Only three remained that knew of what happened. It was settled that the Minister of Magic could know of none of this because of the security risks. The three who did know were spread out and were willing to die before releasing the information they knew. One went to live in muggle societies and was in a position to keep close track on world affairs. One stayed in magical societies and traveled constantly to different areas to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. The last stayed at the Ministry to watch over everything and kept close watch of anything unusual that was reported.  
  
Mutants usually find their powers at maturity. Though, some can come before, and some after. One mutant gene escaped the wrath of both sides, one little girl that carried it and was guilty of being who she was. This one little girl was saved, but for good or bad, for right or wrong? That's all a matter of opinion, or a matter of will. 


	2. Discovery

Chapter 1  
  
It was a dark, dead summer night. The humidity was high and no wind blew. The stillness of the air could carry the smallest sound forever. In fact, it seemed as if Kate could still hear her parents screaming. Those dreadful few minutes ago when they came, came for no reason and killed them all. They were about to run, all their relations were killed and they knew something was happening. They didn't make it. Kate had done what they had told her, she had run to the forest trying to get away but her parent's screams of rage and terror had stopped her. Now there was nothing but silence, bone crushing silence. It seemed even the crickets knew their song could have no use now. Kate stood there, half turned around towards her house. She wanted to run back but knew she shouldn't, it would only make things worse, and what if they killed her as well? Who were they? Why were they here? Why did they have to ruin her life?  
  
Kate collapsed on the ground and began to cry. She didn't care if she was heard, if she was found, suddenly she didn't care what happened to her. A five year old shouldn't have to handle this, this was too much, she just wanted her life back, her parents, her happiness. She started at a touch on her shoulder. She looked up to see a man she didn't know, he was an older man in ragged clothes and a stern face. She might have been more frightened of him if those deep amber eyes didn't hold so much sympathy and sorrow. It might have been a smarter idea to have backed away from him and run, but she hurt too much, her sorrow was overwhelming and his eyes were enough to set her off. She fell into his arms and cried again. He comforted her, wrapping his arms around her and muttering soft "shh's" into her hair.  
  
When she had finally calmed down some he gently pushed her back to arms length and looked at her with his soft, comforting eyes. He spoke in a voice that had a little rasp to it, as if he hadn't used it in a while, but still it held so much sympathy in it that one had to trust it. "I want you to remember this night. Never forget it, and never forget what I say to you now." His voice took on more urgency and she was immediately captivated by that voice. "Mutants are hunted down by both sides, neither the Ministry nor the Dark Lord has anything to offer to mutants. A mutant mustn't hide their power but develop it so that they can understand and control it. You must remember most though, a mutant can trust no one, not even a fellow mutant. Remember this, remember all I said." A pleading look came to his eyes, "Live for me and learn, and never forget what I said tonight. You've done no wrong."  
  
The next thing she knew she was transported to a muggle orphanage and put there under a different name. Her first name was changed from Katelin to Kathrin and everyone in the orphanage called her Kat. She supposed it could be worse, at least she had somewhat of her old name. Kat knew the dangers of letting muggle people know about her being a witch, so she kept quiet. She also knew when she was being saved, so she never tried to contact the wizarding world. When her letter from Hogwarts found her, she was ecstatic, but played the dumbfounded muggle the entire time. She acted very well, for ever since that night she had been more mature for her age. She never quite knew if that was good or bad.  
  
  
  
Kat's eyes shot open and she took a quick deep breath of fresh morning air into her lungs. After a few slower breaths of air she was able to calm herself enough relax some from her unease. The words of her dream came back to haunt her mind once again. ~Never forget what I say to you.~ How could she? She had never forgotten that night, couldn't if she wanted to, and had a replay of what happened constantly in her dreams. Three times a week was more than enough to have to remember. Sometimes she'd have them more sometimes less, though the latter was very rare indeed. For the past two weeks though her dreams every night were a loud and vivid memory of that night to every detail. Could she get no peace?  
  
Obviously not, because the more vivid her dreams were, the more she felt as if she was actually there. On these nights she would wake in a sweat and be gasping for breath and have tears running down her cheeks. This night was no different. Kat was always up before the others. She needed no alarm clock, her dreams did a fine job of that. Getting up, Kat went to take a quick shower, get dressed, and go down to the common room before the break of dawn.  
  
The Gryffindor common room is usually a very loud and crowded place. But when one is up before everyone else is, it's quite peaceful. Kat loved the silence, she loved being able to go and sit by the fire in the mornings and reflect on anything on her mind. This also gave ample time to regain her composure after nights of dreaming such as last night. Now that she thought about it, that dream was the most vivid she'd had in a while. It was as if she could feel the summer heat and smell the blooming flowers and hears crunch of her own foot steps with precision.  
  
Kat shook her head to clear it. This was her time to pull herself together, not reminisce. She looked around the room just to give her eyes something to do. At the far side of the room, on a table in a corner was a package of chocolate hidden under some trash. If there was one thing in the world Kat liked most, it was chocolate. It wasn't hers, she shouldn't try to get it, but she could use a piece of chocolate right now. Kat stared at the piece longingly, her conscience the only thing keeping her rooted to her seat. The wads of paper that were covering the chocolate shuffled some and startled Kat. She took a breath to calm herself, it was probably just Trevor. Neville was constantly loosing him, of coarse, if she were Neville's pet of and kind she'd want to run away too. Kat frowned, if Trevor was over there he would ruin the perfectly good chocolate because he was trying to eat something he shouldn't. The papers rustled again, she should save that piece, it was only right that if that chocolate was eaten, to be eaten by someone who'd appreciate it. Some papers began to fall off into the floor, the stupid toad, he was making a mess. Trevor didn't need to eat that, she wanted the chocolate!  
  
Right when she thought that the package of chocolate lifted into the air and shot straight towards her. Kat gasped and it stopped right in front of her face before it fell into her lap. She looked down at the perfectly clean and precise wrapping of the chocolate. It didn't look as if anything had been done to it. She looked back over at the table. The trash was thrown about to give a clear view that nothing was over there. What just happened?  
  
Kat began to recount what just happened. Maybe someone else did it, as a joke. No, nobody was up, and even the twins like to sleep this early in the morning. Besides that, if she thought about it, the more she ended up wanting to chocolate, the more the papers rustled. Could she have… Maybe it was possible that… Did she just manage wandless magic over a package of chocolate? She looked down at the package in her lap. She could always test that theory out.  
  
Looking back over at the table she spotted at a paper wad on the table. She held up her hand and called out "~Accio!~". Nothing happened. Maybe it was a joke, just a prank. No, she was just doing this wrong. She hadn't called out a spell before. She glared at the paper wad, mentally telling it to come to her. After a while the paper wad started shivering. ~Come on… Come on…~It rolled a little but wasn't going anywhere much. ~Come here!~ Suddenly the paper wad shot into the air and took the same route as the chocolate. It stopped in front of her face and dropped into her lap on top of the chocolate.  
  
Wandless magic and spelless magic, she knew they were possible, but most witches and wizards never are able to do that after using a wand. Also, they aren't able to do it as well as she just did. A haunting thought came started drifting back to her mind but she pushed it back down. She looked at her watch and saw that the Great Hall should be serving breakfast by now. Pocketing the chocolate, Kat left the common room in hopes of bacon and choose to ignore the paper wad from her lap rolling across the floor.  
  
  
  
Kat chose to tell no one of what happened that morning. A thousand theories were running through her mind as to why that happened. The one she liked the most was that she didn't know she loved chocolate so much. Lame, but it was better then the one thought nagging at the back of her mind, she refused to believe it, or even think about it. So, she tried not to think about it and focus on her classes.  
  
All of her classes were uneventful and normal until she got to potions. This was when her intense focus of class ended up being a bad thing. She usually tried not to think about the nasty comments Snape threw at people, but today she heard every word. Today, he was in a particularly bad mood as well. Neville was his victim as usual. The poor kid was too afraid to do any kind of potion without having a breakdown over it. Snape was being incredibly unfair and Kat began to fume and try her best to keep her mouth shut. By the looks of it, Harry Potter was doing the same.  
  
Kat pushed a stray lock of her jet-black hair behind her ear and tried to get back to concentrating of her potion. Snape began prowling around again, scolding people for no reason and still picking on poor Neville. He chose another victim, it was all so unfair. Kat couldn't help but look up and shoot icy glares at him with her bright blue eyes. He didn't notice much, far to interested in scolding people for no reason. Why? Why would he be doing this? He turned his back to her and started walking down the isles, still spiting poison at people. Kat glared at him, the only thought in her mind was wondering why he always did this.  
  
"These foolish students." Snape said. It sounded like he was talking to himself, but it was rather loud. "They cower at a look I give them, how pathetic. I'd like to see them try to face the Dark Lord tonight, they'd end up dieing from fear."  
  
Kat was stunned. He said that out loud. She heard him say it. Why would he just do that? He just gave away everything! Kat looked around but everyone seemed to be still fuming and working on their potions. What was going on? How could everyone stay so calm?  
  
Snape spun around to look at her. "Ah, another lost dunderhead. If she could only put in more effort she'd make a decent potion." He said. Except, he didn't say. He never even opened his mouth! Everyone else acted as if nothing happened.  
  
"Jennings, why aren't you working on your potion? Or are you as lost as Longbottom?" this time his mouth moved when he spoke and she felt the reverberation of his growl in her ears. That's when she realized that she hadn't been hearing him speak - she'd been hearing his thoughts.  
  
Oh, no. What was happening to her? This day was getting stranger by the minute. Why could she hear his thoughts and no one else's? Maybe it was just him. Or maybe it was because she wanted to hear his thoughts. Her mind was in a whirl, she couldn't think, she didn't know what was going on or happening to her. Suddenly there were more than just her thoughts in her head. She could hear other people's thoughts, not just Snape's, but the entire class. They were all talking - no, thinking at once inside he mind. She could hear them, no one else but her, all of their voices ringing in her ears only. She couldn't handle this.  
  
Kat covered her ears in a desperate attempt to block out the noise. It didn't help, only made the thoughts louder, more pronounce in her ears. They were driving her insane, she couldn't handle this. She had to make them stop, had to. Kat resorted to screaming out, calling to everyone to make them shut up, something to make them stop. The thoughts were practically screaming in her head now. Tears began to leak out of her eyes and her world spun around along with the chaos she heard. Soon her senses began to leave her and her world went black. The sound also diminished with it, leaving Kat to gratefully fall into the quiet abyss.  
  
  
  
Kat awoke a while later in the hospital wing. She tried to gather her thoughts. Her mind was scattered and sluggish and she was having trouble forming a thought. A question soon formed its way into her tired mind. What just happened? Kat began to recount her day. The chocolate, that was a big thing, she never did figure that out, did she? Breakfast and classes seemed all the same as usual, she tried to remember details but her mind was worn out. Then came potions, yes something happened in potions.  
  
It all came back to her like a slap in the face. She remembered everything as her mind was suddenly jarred awake. She remembered hearing Snape when no one else did, how he talked about You-Know-Who, and how he hadn't said a thing. She remembered realizing that she had read his mind and how suddenly everyone's thoughts were in her head. She remembered how much it hurt and how loud it was and how it only got worse. Then… she must have passed out afterwards and was carried here.  
  
This lead to another problem, what was she going to tell Madam Pomfrey, or her classmates, or even Snape if he asked. She couldn't just tell them all that she could read minds. As far as she knew, no one in history could ever read minds. She wanted to ask Professor Binns, but that would be too much of a risk. That went back to the problem at hand. Should she tell someone? Maybe she should go to Dumbledore with this problem. Then again, he might just take it straight to the Ministry. That would be very bad.  
  
Kat couldn't really put a reason to it, but ever since she was a child she had never liked the Ministry. She just didn't feel like she could trust them. Those haunting words came to her mind again. ~You can trust no one.~ No, that was wrong. "A mutant can trust no one." That's what he said. She had just referred to herself as a mutant. She couldn't be… But, what if she was? It would make sense why he would tell her all that that night. It might also explain the chocolate and the Snape incidences. What does it mean if she's a mutant?  
  
No, she knew exactly what that meant. That meant she would have to deal with it and learn to use her powers and control them. That she couldn't just hide them, control was hiding, but in a more effective way. Most of all, she could tell no one. This still lead back to the old problem: What was she going to tell everybody?  
  
A door opened and startled Kat out of her thoughts. She glanced up to see a very stern faced Snape walking through the infirmary. Kat sank back down into the bed and feigned sleep so that she wouldn't have to talk to anyone, especially him. Soon enough, Madam Pomfrey came in to meet Snape in the middle of the room. Kat was careful to keep her breathing steady, she didn't want to be found awake, she didn't want them to talk to her. She didn't think she could handle the questions right now more than she could answer them, especially to Snape.  
  
"I've checked her over but I can't find anything wrong with her. What happened in the classroom?" said a concerned Madam Pomfrey.  
  
To Kat's embarrassment, she heard the story of what happened told in detail, it was far worse than Kat thought to begin with. She was surprised though that Snape had remembered so much of what happened, but she supposed Madam Pomfrey would want all the information she could get to find out what happened. Kat listened as the two formed many different thoughts on what happened. A few good and more reasonable discussions came into theory and Kat decided to choose one of those to tell as a real story.  
  
Pomfrey came over to Kat to check on her again. She laid a hand on Kat's head to check for her temperature, just in case. Kat chose to pretend to wake up then, already decided on her cover story. Pomfrey began asking her questions, but more on her health and if anything hurt or if she had a headache. More to the matter at hand instead of what happened. Kat had to admit she liked the fact that Pomfrey doesn't overwhelm students with questions, it sure made her feel more secure. Of coarse, she wasn't the only person in the room.  
  
"Would you mind telling us what happened Miss Jennings?" said Snape's smooth voice. It wasn't mean or scolding, more like unemotional. She guessed that caring wasn't one of the things taught to Death Eaters. Kat scolded herself for that thought. If she thought like that constantly then she might let it slip, and she couldn't let anyone, especially Snape, know what happened in the classroom today.  
  
Pomfrey shot a glare at Snape but Kat felt like she just needed to get this over with as soon as possible. "I had a nightmare last night and when I woke up I couldn't get back to sleep. I was really tired during the day and the last thing I can remember is drifting off in to sleep in class." It wasn't hard to look scared that Snape might be mad at her for that. But at the moment, anything seemed better than the truth.  
  
Pomfrey though, seemed to be satisfied with the statement and gave her some anti-dreaming sleeping potion. Snape seemed mildly irritated but decided not to comment at the moment, most likely because Pomfrey would approve if he did. As far as they were concerned, she had fell asleep during class and sleepwalked her nightmare. Pomfrey said that Kat could either stay here or go back to her room, whichever setting felt comfortable. She also insisted that Kat come back for more of the potion if she needed it.  
  
Soon Kat was back up in her room sitting on the edge of her bed trying to collect her thoughts. It was early in the evening but Kat still felt exhausted. She wanted to sleep but her mind was swimming. She looked at the empty beds around her. All her friends knew she had nightmares, they were worried about her when she first came here. They tried to wake her up every time it got really bad. But that dreams never stopped and eventually they started sleeping through the noise. Sometimes they felt bad about that, so Kat insisted it wasn't that bad of a dream and she must not have made too much noise.  
  
They were caring friends, but they wouldn't believe the nightmare story she told Pomfrey, they knew better. Or maybe they would. They kept saying if she didn't get enough sleep she would fall asleep in class one day. She'd just tell them that she had woken up extra early this morning and then she dozed off in Snape's class. None of them would want to recount what happened if she said she couldn't remember everything. But she was going to have to play dumb with the insults she knew were going to be thrown by the Slytherins. She hated having to let them win.  
  
Kat looked back over at the potion on her nightstand. Maybe she could use a night with no dreams to disturb her, after today a good night sleep was what she needed. So Kat drank the potion and felt sleep come quickly with how tired she already was adding to the effects. For the first time in many weeks Kat slept through the night peacefully and with no dreams.  
  
  
  
The next day was relatively uneventful. Kat was careful to keep her thoughts under control and just tried to concentrate on her work. Her story seemed to be believed by everybody but Snape, but he didn't mention it to her. All of her other teachers seemed to take sympathy on her and tried not to say anything too scolding to her. Possibly because they thought her dreams had to do with some horrible life of hers, which could be both right and wrong really. The Slytherins weren't as bad as her thought they would be, they seemed to have other things on their minds, or at least better subjects to torture. By the time lunch rolled around, Kat was in a better mood than she thought she would be.  
  
"Did you get most of what was going on in Transfiguration today?" Sara asked. Sara was one of Kat's best friends. Still, Kat had to admit, the girl was the basis of the dumb blonde jokes. "I heard Ron saying he was having trouble keeping up too." She continued.  
  
Everyone around her rolled their eyes and Sara chose not to notice. She had had a crush on Ron since the beginning of this year. Though she would never admit it, it was quite obvious.  
  
"I'll let you copy my notes later." Kat said. She had taken pretty good notes today since was trying to keep her mind preoccupied by paying REALLY close attention to the teacher.  
  
"Thanks Kat!" Sara said with a big smile. Kat smiled back, that was the thing about Sara, her smiles were contagious. Sara went back to talking a mile a minute. Really all a person had to do was nod to keep up a conversation her.  
  
Kat turned back to her lunch and concentrated on eating trying to ignore the little voice in the back her of head nagging at her to stop avoiding what was happening to her. Suddenly the Great Hall got a lot louder than usual, to the point it was giving Kat a headache. She heard Christy, another one of her friends that was usually very quiet, trying to talk over Sara. Kat looked over at Christy, her mouth wasn't moving but Kat could still hear her talking. It was happening again. Kat's stomach lurched, with how many people were in the Great Hall, she didn't know how much she could handle, and the voices around her were only getting louder. It was all becoming a jumble now. She couldn't make out individual voices anymore and the world began spin.  
  
She tried to keep calm; she couldn't have another incident like the one in Snape's room. The thoughts were beginning to overwhelm her though, it was like a crushing weight on her mind. Maybe she could concentrate them away, but that wasn't happening anytime soon. She tried deciphering the voices, maybe if she could understand what was being said she could handle it. There were far too many for her to understand anything though. Every time she thought she recognized a voice another would blend with it and she was completely lost again.  
  
Then she heard that voice, one she'd heard before, and not just vocally. It was Snape. It must have been because she had read his mind before and was familiar with it. Or maybe because his voice was always associated with that power to call everyone to attention. For whatever reason it was, she was able to concentrate on his voice/thoughts and ignore the rest as they swam through her mind. Kat tried to stay calm and keep her breathing level until the other voices subsided. Slowly she was regaining control of her own mind. In the meantime, she heard Snape's thoughts.  
  
For a man who doesn't talk much and keeps to himself, one would suppose he would have a lot of thoughts on his mind. This was true, but it was odd how he dealt with them. Snape was constantly analyzing things. He would run over things in his mind until the perfect formula presented itself. He would pick out suspicious people and watch them for every movement, then try to decipher what they meant. He would form perfect plans for what he wants to do during his days and nights while not teaching. Occasionally a worried thought would worm its way into his mind, only to be pushed away again. Kat ended up finding all about Snape being a spy and how hard it was for him. This was almost too much. Snape having to work with Voldemort? Kat shivered.  
  
That simple movement caught Snape's roaming eye and shifted his thoughts to her. He seemed to know when someone was lying, having been around it all his life. He knew Kat had made up that story and knew something more was going on than just bad dreams and dozing in class. Why would she tell something that would obviously get her in trouble? It was obvious a lie was worth facing more than the truth. His thoughts rolled through her mind as she realized just how right he was about that statement. She was running from her problems because she was too afraid to face them. The little voice in the back of her mind mentally smacked her on the back of the head, what it had been ranting about all the time was what she finally admitted to herself.  
  
Just then she realized she could once again hear her own thoughts and that the voices she heard were those that were actually talking and reverberating in her ears. She quickly cut off the link to Snape's mind and scolded herself for feeling somewhat disappointed about it. After all, she really didn't need the read his thoughts, most of them were disturbing anyways. Kat still heard Sara chattering away and forced herself back to the conversation at hand. Christy, who hardly missed anything, asked Kat if anything was wrong. Kat didn't know exactly what she had done but Christy seemed very concerned. Kat just shrugged it off and blamed it on a headache. This sent Sara off into some full fledged rambling that jumped from topic to topic as fast as she could think them. Kat tried her best to pay attention, but it was extremely hard since her mind kept wanting to wander. What Kat needed was time to think, and this definitely wasn't the place for it.  
  
  
  
Privacy is what she needs, now where to get it? The common room was always crowded, her room wasn't safe considering she shared it with other roommates, by a close call she found out that Mourning Myrtle's bathroom was being occupied by Hermione (for some reason), and an empty classroom would be easily walked in on. There was no place to go! Then it hit her. The Forbidden Forest. Not the most pleasant of ideas but it was sure to be safe and private, for more than one reason. No one much wanted to visit the forest before, especially at night because of all the dangers. With all that was going on now it was off limits to everyone and those caught would suffer some mighty consequences. So, the forest would be completely safe, that is, if she didn't get caught.  
  
Sneaking out of the common room was the easy part; sneaking out of the castle was more complicated. Miss Norris was on the prowl along with a very grumpy Filch, this lead to many close calls. Kat managed to slip by all the teachers and perfects still out after hours without incident. Making it to the hallway in front of the Great Hall meant she was almost home free. Then she bumped into Peeves.  
  
He was flying around cackling near the ceiling as Kat rounded the corner. She jumped back quickly and slowly peeked around the wall again, hoping he hadn't seen her. Luckily, he hadn't. In fact he was far to busy creating mischief to notice her. He was pouring bucket after bucket of some kind of gunk onto the floor in front of the Great Hall. Upon impact to the tile it blended in to the color and looked as if nothing was ever there. Kat made a mental note to not be the first one to breakfast in the morning. Keeping to the edges of the hallway she managed to get past Peeves fairly easy as he went to collect more gunk.  
  
When she reached the door, she looked behind her one last time to make sure no one was there and then quietly slipped out. The cool night air blew across her face and tousled her silky hair. Kat looked up to see brightly glowing stars in the almost clear black velvet sky. It was really a very nice night with a warm breeze, but that didn't stop the hairs on the back of Kats neck from rising. She needed to be able to get to the woods without being seen from the castle. This meant moving with the shadows and staying as far away from Hagrid's hut as possible. She knew exactly what part of the woods she wanted to go to since she pre planed the area. So, keeping to the edge of the castle wall as long as possible she worked her way around until she was in view of her destination.  
  
Taking advantage of a small cloud that blocked the half moon's light, she raced through the shadows across the grounds. Her nerves were wrung tight and she kept sending back glances at the school and jumped at the slightest sound, even if that sound was her own self snapping a twig. What would she do if she got caught wandering around after hours, heading for the Forbidden Forest? She didn't know what kind of story she'd make up but she had a feeling it wouldn't be just Snape that didn't believe it. The closer she got to the forest the more she thought of how many house points could be taken off. Another step and she imagined how many detentions she could get. Another and she pictured herself cleaning trophies without magic for the rest of her life. That got her having second thoughts. Maybe she shouldn't be doing this; maybe she shouldn't be going to the forest. It is forbidden after all and all the warnings that had been told to them weren't said for no reason. Then where else could she go? Nowhere.  
  
That thought brought her to the edge of the woods, no turning back now. Taking a deep breath she pushed away the thought of being expelled and stepped into the woods. No turning back now. 


	3. Learning

Chapter 2  
  
Kat entered the woods timidly. She'd heard a lot of stories about these woods, and none of them were good. The trees blotted out what little light came from the moon, only adding to the "forbidden" feeling. She pulled out her wand and shed a little glob of light on her path. It didn't help much, for it seemed like the trees were huge sponges that absorbed all light in their path. There was little noise in the woods, so her crunching footsteps echoed in her ears. The slightest sound she heard that didn't come from her made her jump. A fluttering sound made her involuntarily cry out as she jumped. She looked up to see it was only a huge owl delivering a rather large note heading towards the castle. Taking some calming breaths she forced herself to move on.  
  
Her plan was to go in a straight line from where she entered the forest so that she wouldn't get lost. It was a good plan, had it not been for the thorn bushes in her way. The trees seemed to thin out in this area and looked as though they might lead to a clearing. This meant, though, having to stomp through a painful huddle of thorns. She blasted some of the bigger ones out of her way but found it easier to try and stomp through the rest. About halfway through the thorns got the upper hand and took a death grip on her robes. She could hardly pull out of them and couldn't seem to blast away enough to set herself free.  
  
While struggling with the wrath of the thorns a soft, low growl came from her right. She stopped, dead still to listen. Her breathing was shallow and her heart felt as if it would beat out of her chest any time now. A rustling sound came from her left and she snapped her head over in the direction of the sound, but saw nothing. Another sound similar to it came from behind her. The rustling noises began to circle her. All from different directions ay once. There were more than one of them and they were stalking her. Holding her wand out in front of her she snapped it in the direction of the smallest sound. Couldn't run because she was trapped. Couldn't fight because she couldn't see them. She was blocked in with no way out and they, whoever her stalkers were, knew it.  
  
Suddenly it hit her how it felt to be hunted. How it felt to be trapped and know that there was no way out. How it felt to not know when the strike would come or if she could do anything about it. How it felt to know that the attacker would hold it out until blind panic ran through it's victim enough that they wouldn't be able to fight back. How it felt to have the knowledge that the predator knew the perfect time to attack, and the prey never would. If she lived through this, she'd become a vegetarian.  
  
Suddenly, the sounds stopped. There was dead silence around her, though Kat tried her best to hear something, anything. The only sound there was was that of her blood pumping deafeningly in her ears and the soft breeze that always blew through the trees. Kat looked around slowly, casting her wands puny light around her to try and see anything. Her breathing was heavy and she was bordering on the edge of pure panic. They knew that, they didn't waist it.  
  
Something lunged at Kat. How her attackers managed to get through the thorns so well without getting hurt was beyond her, but that was the last thing on her mind at the moment. It was small but strong and Kat saw the distinct glint of razor sharp teeth come at her. Kat barely dodged in time before the thing could tear into her elbow, it instead got a mouth full of cloth. It held on strong and refused to let go. Her robe began to rip under the weight and it slowed her down. One from the other side of her leaped towards her and aimed for her side. Twisting her body sideways from the attacker and leaning back some, she managed to not receive a flesh wound from that one, but it also managed to grab a hold on her robes and held on just as tightly. A third one came for her throat. The only free hand Kat had was her wand hand. So turning it at an angle so that her wand would be broken, she threw a wild punch at the small mass of fur. She didn't know where she hit it at, but it had the desired effect to send it flying back into the thorns. The little thing was quick though and regained its balance in enough time to lung at her again along with one more attacker.  
  
Full fledged fear and panic were overwhelming her now. With all this weight on her she could barely move. Dodging the attacks was becoming pointless, and she felt a sharp sting on her leg. Her wild attempts at fighting were more than useless. She jerked around violently trying to throw one off, only to feel sharp pain in the forearm. A thousand thoughts an instant were running through her mind at all the horrible things that could happen to her. More than once she saw herself being ripped to shreds, no one hearing the screams, no one knowing she was there, and being utterly helpless. Those thoughts ran through her like poison, filling her to the brink of raging fear.  
  
Panic fear and desperation were all let out in one strong, bloodcurdling scream. But that wasn't the only thing let out of her so strongly. Power. Pure, raw, untamed power. It coursed through her and out of her, flowing through her veins, a force to be dealt with. It held with it the same sharp quality as her scream as it was unleashed unto the world around her. The power of her mind mixed with raw emotion spread through her until what could have been long as hours or short as seconds, it died down with her scream.  
  
Kat fell to her knees gasping for breath. Every muscle in her body ached, her mind was exhausted, and she was suddenly very sleepy. The world spun around her, causing her to sway as the earth moved under her. Putting her hands on the ground in front of her, she tried to subdue the sudden wave of nausea that washed over her. As the ground slowly leveled out and the spinning world slowed, Kat tried to recollect her thoughts on what had just happened. Wasn't she being attacked? Hadn't death been chomping on her arm and leg not too long ago?  
  
Her head flew up to look around her, but this only resulted in causing fresh waves of nausea come over her as her world swam and the edges of her vision blacked out. She closed her eyes and let everything still before opening them again to disoriented vision. Her eyes were tired and didn't want to focus well, especially in the dim light. Her wand was underneath her somewhere in the folds of her fabric from when she had fallen. Actually, she didn't remember dropping it at all. Ignoring that she slowly looked around her. Where was she? This didn't look like the same place she was at a minute ago.  
  
There was an eight-foot clearing of smooth dirt around her in a perfect circle before ending in thorn bushes. A circle two feet in diameter around her was slightly lower than the rest. Kat looked around thoughrally confused, she was sitting in the middle of two circles for no apparent reason. Looking behind her she saw that the thorns there looked stomped on and cut through. The trees seemed to gradually thicken back into the same cramped woods as the Forbidden Forest. All evidence pointed to the fact that she was in the same spot she was before. This left a very good question: What just happened?  
  
A thought started to form in her mind. If she could do wandless magic so well, that meant her spells ~with~ wands would be more powerful, right? It was possible that she just cast a really strong spell. But she didn't remember saying a word, not to mention the fact that at some point in time she had dropped her wand. It could have been because of the panic that she could cast such a powerful, destructive spell. Fear was a big factor in a lot of things.  
  
The little voice in the back of her head that had been nagging at her for days could be quieted no longer. It made its opinion loud and clear. In one simple phrase that swam through her mind over and over again it voiced its argument: You're a mutant.  
  
Then what did that mean for her? Sure, she had been told about such a thing, but she didn't know what it meant. Was she going to be hunted down for the rest of her life because she was capable of wandless magic? Kat looked around her again. Okay, strong wandless magic. There was surely more to this? When Kat had first gone to Hogwarts she had discreetly searched the library for anything on mutants, but found nothing. That had only gotten her more confused. Did this mean that everyone but her knew about mutants? She couldn't just ask anyone, the might lead to trouble. Or was she the only one other than the Ministry that knew of mutants? This was far too confusing.  
  
Now though, she was completely in the dark. All she knew was that she could read people's minds, use wandless levitation spells, just now blasted a circle around her, and didn't know how to control any of it. The only thing she was sure about was that she could tell no one. That didn't help her in the slightest. What was she supposed to do? Let what was happening drive her insane until she was caught? Kat really didn't like that option. It was hopeless… Utterly hopeless…  
  
No. She shouldn't think like that. She also couldn't let that happen to her. You don't hide it, you learn to control it, to master it. She could make it through this, and she would. Her angel in the woods didn't save her life for nothing. If anything, she owed it to him to survive this.  
  
Filled with new determination, Kat forced herself shakily to her feet. Her muscles ached and protested and the world began to swim again as she stood. She staggered some but caught her balance and took a deep steadying breath. Kat was determined to learn something of what she could do without having to resort to reading Snape's mind everyday. A small stick lay just outside her circle. Start with simple things, after all, she had levitated things before.  
  
Thinking back to yesterday morning, Kat tried to remember how she had done this. Saying the spell hadn't worked, just wanting it had. So, taking that in mind, Kat glared at the stick and concentrated. ~I want you to come here,~ She thought to the stick. Nothing happened. So, she tried a more demanding approach. ~Come here… Come here… Come now!~ Nothing happened. Annoyance started to come over her as she tried again. This time, she held out her hand and concentrated all the magic into making it come. Nothing happened. Sighing, she thought back again to yesterday morning. She didn't remember using her magic, just her mind. So, holding her hand out again, she focused her mind on bringing the stick to her.  
  
It wiggled a little and Kat's heart leaped. Focusing more intently on it Kat reached out as best she could with her mind to take hold of the stick. Suddenly it flew through the air and into her open hand. A huge smile broke out on Kat's face as she looked at the stick with wide-eyed amazement. She did it! Kat excitedly looked around for another stick and concentrated on calling it to her, then another, and another, and another. Soon there were enough sticks at her feet to build a fire. Kat decided to try something else. Singling out one stick, she lifted it into the air until it was in front of her face at arms length. Holding it there, she let it hover for a while, and then began to spin it. Slowly at first, then a little faster, then faster still, soon she had it going so fast it was a blur. It gradually slowed back down and went back to hovering right in front of her.  
  
Kat yawned and the stick dropped back to the ground. Now that most of the excitement had worn off, Kat realized how exhausted she was. Before she would be capable of anything else, she would need some sleep. First though, she should clean up her little area. Smiling at this, she attempted one more little levitation trick. Concentrating on the pile at her feet, she spread her arms in effect and sent all the sticks flying back into the woods. They didn't all fly in unison, or in a straight line, or at the same height for that matter. It didn't surprise her though, she was tired, she was new at this, and that had been the most she'd tried to work with since she first discovered her powers.  
  
Yawning again, Kat retrieved her still glowing wand and stomped her way back through her trail in the thorns and through the dead quiet of the trees. The dark started to press in on her more and more as her eyelids drooped. If she was going to sneak back in the castle she needed to be awake. Well, that wasn't quite happening. She didn't know exactly how she managed it, but she made it back to her room without getting caught. Once her head hit the pillow, she was out.  
  
  
  
The next few weeks were slowly draining Kat. She'd have to rush through her homework and everything else she needed to do to be able to have time to sneak off in the woods at night. Any free time she had was spent taking naps, which only made her friends worry about her. They didn't mention it much but Kat could tell it was always on their minds by the looks on their faces. It didn't help any that she kept trying to doze off in class. That did have an up side though. Roughly every three days Kat would have attacks where her mind was overloaded with people's thoughts. To make sure no one saw anything out of the ordinary, she would put her head down and pretend like she was dozing off again.  
  
These mental overloads weren't that bad when Snape was around because she could concentrate on him and could gain control more quickly. There were a lot of times though, that Snape wasn't around and her teachers began to worry about her. Madam Pomfrey had Kat sent to her office so many times she started mumbling about the teachers being hypochondriac for her. Kat was appreciative of the dreamless sleep potions though, considering she needed all the sleep she could get. Still, she felt sorry for being in the way of Madam Pomfrey all the time.  
  
After one particularly long and painful overload, Kat though about reading one of her friend's minds so that she could concentrate on them for once since they were usually around her the most. But Kat was unsure of what she might accidentally do, and worse yet, it was her friend's mind she was invading. ~Well, that's rich~, she thought, ~You can know all about Snape's life but you're too afraid to see what your friends are truly thinking of you.~ Pushing that thought out of her mind, Kat settled on not reading their minds because the last time she did so, it ~caused~ an overload.  
  
Being too afraid to work that part of her powers was only making things worse. Using all of her other powers hadn't helped develop that part of her. In fact, she didn't know if she had taped in to all of her powers. After all, there had to be something major that she was capable of that made her such a risk to the wizarding world, right? The Ministry wouldn't just kill mutants because they were different. Well, at least, Kat hoped not. No, there had to be another reason, all she had to do was figure out what.  
  
Kat contemplated this during lunch, mainly to keep her mind awake for the rest of the day. Sara was chattering away happily as Christy gave her worried looks that Kat chose to ignore. Of coarse, she couldn't blame the look on Christy's face, since she was having trouble aiming the fork to her mouth. Five misses later Christy looked like she could hold back no longer and was about to say something. Thankfully, at that moment Owl Post arrived and all words were lost in Sara's happy chattering over mail from her parents.  
  
It wasn't that it was her parents that got Sara so excited, it was because she always got news of her best friend through them. Sara was muggle born and none of her friends back at her old school became witches or wizards, so she barely saw much of any of them. Ripping open the letter Sara went on about how Samantha was in the running for cheerleader captain and "just ~dieing~ to know if she made it". Once the letter was open and she started reading, her face slowly fell. Sara's face went through disbelief, to horror, to pain, and finally settled on deep sorrow. When she stopped reading she slowly set the paper on the table and blinked back tears. The usual happy, perky Sara seemed to be gone as if she never were. Kat was sitting right next to Sara so she slowly put a hand on her arm and quietly and gently asked her what was wrong.  
  
Sara began to shake her head violently mumbling things about not being there and should have been there. Kat was thoughrally confused now. "Sara… Is everything…" she attempted but finally Sara made herself coherent, very loudly in fact.  
  
"No! Everything's not okay! I'm surprised you even noticed!" she screamed in Kat's face.  
  
Kat flinched. That had hurt, she knew she had been rather disconnected with everything that had been going on but she didn't know it had cut so deep in Sara. She felt awful. Sara seemed to loose all her anger after that and suddenly broke down into tears. Christy, who was on her other side, tried to say something but Sara cut her off. "Just leave me alone!" she choked out, and with that, ran out of the Great Hall as fast as she could.  
  
Kat realized then that the entire hall had become dead quiet and was watching what had just happened. Really, she didn't care. Her friend needed comfort and she needed to apologize. As Kat started to get up to go after her, Christy grabbed her arm and pulled her back down. "Wait Kat, look." She said and held out the letter Sara had gotten.  
  
Our Dear Sara,  
  
We're sorry baby, but Samantha's blood level fell again. The doctors did all they could, but the blood supply was running low. She regained consciousness in the middle of it all and kept demanding to know where the ring was. While I was trying to calm her down she said she wanted us to find it and give it to you. You're Dad searched through the car wreckage again and found it. She told me to tell you this "Through distance and fights and growth and change, our friendship will always be the same." She smiled then, it's been a long time since I saw that on her face. But I guess you two's friendship can make it through the worst of times. The next shipment of blood didn't make it in time. She passed away peacefully in her sleep. We sent you the ring along with the letter. I'm so sorry baby. Just remember, she'll always be there in your heart.  
  
  
  
Love,  
  
Mom & Dad  
  
Kat looked at the little parcel that was attached to the letter and opened it. Inside was a ring that was a perfect replica of the one Sara wore constantly on her left ring finger. Tears welled up in Kat's eyes as she looked at it. Poor Sara, if Kat hadn't been so obsessed with herself and paid attention more, she would have seen a change in Sara's personality. Sara hadn't mentioned this probably because she was more denying it to herself the whole time. With Sara so tore up about Samantha, she really needed all her friends there for her, not to worry about another one. Kat was disgusted with herself. She had to make it up to her.  
  
Taking hold of Christy's arm she lead her out of the Great Hall in pursuit of Sara with Samantha's ring in her other hand. Kat caught a glimpse of Sara running towards Griffindor tower and quickly followed. Christy was having a hard time blinking back the tears that welled up in her own eyes, so she kept hold of Kat's wrist so that she wouldn't fall behind. The Fat Lady looked rather distressed when they made it up there, she kept muttering "poor dear, poor dear" as they ran past. It wasn't until after they were up the stairs and into their room and had finally stopped did Kat realize how much that run had taken out of her. By the looks of the gasping Christy beside her, it had taken its toll on her as well.  
  
Sara was face down on her bed crying harder than anyone ever had in the orphanage; she probably hadn't even heard them come in. A pang of guilt surged through Kat again as she looked at her. Looking at Christy, Kat saw silent tears streaming down her cheeks. It must have been just as hard on her, she probably knew something had been wrong and needed Kat to be there to help her figure it out. But Kat wasn't there, just another thing to feel guilty about. Taking a deep breath, Kat walked over to the edge of the bed and sat down beside Sara. Sara jumped and looked up at her with wide, red, sorrowful eyes. Kat couldn't stand it, she had to say something.  
  
"I-I'm really sorry Sara… I should have been here for you the entire time…" Kat was at a loss for words. She wracked her mind but couldn't think of anything.  
  
Christy made her way slowly across the room and sat down on the bed next to Kat. Sara looked over at her and then back to Kat as fresh tears poured down her cheeks. She slowly pushed her self up into a sitting position, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She opened her mouth to say something, but an involuntary and painful choking gasp racked through her, which made her start to cry once more. Christy put a hand on her arm as Kat put a supporting arm around her. Sara collapsed into Kat and sobbed on her shoulder. Christy leaned forward and put her forehead on Sara's shoulder blade and let her tears flow free.  
  
After a while Kat remembered the ring and slowly pushed it into Sara's hand. Knowing exactly what it was, Sara held a death grip on it and was washed over with a new wave of sorrow. She hugged Kat as tight as she could, hoping for some kind of support. Soon, the three of them were rocking side to side in a gentle, calming rhythm. Sara cried herself to sleep on Kat's shoulder and soon Christy laid down on the bed as well and felt asleep. Kat was also emotionally exhausted but felt too guilty to try and sleep. She leaned back against the bedpost and closed her eyes, not managing to stop a fresh stream of tears. She should have been there… She should have been there…  
  
With that final thought, she drifted to sleep as well.  
  
  
  
Classes came and went as the three slept on, as did dinner. Knowing that they had been through quite an emotional time and not wanting them to be disturbed, McGonnagall got them excused from their last classes. House elves were sent up quietly to deliver dinner for when they woke. What should have been was a snack, for when the three finally did awake they weren't very hungry. It was around eight o' clock as the three sluggishly ate and performed their pre-bed rituals such as brushing their teeth and changing into pajamas. They were all still tired and emotionally drained, so right after they went back to sleep.  
  
The rest of the week was a blur. Kat didn't leave to go training in the woods at any time, she and Christy were trying their best to comfort Sara. Sara had taken it pretty hard really. She refused to talk unless she had to and a smile wasn't seen on her face since before the letter arrived. The rest of the student body, save the Slytherins, had heard about what happened one way or another and took sympathy on her. Nothing seemed to cheer her up though. Grades began to slip and homework was done on autopilot. It seemed by the look on her face that her whole life was one big rut now, nothing was right, and she would never be happy again. Even in her sleep she couldn't get a break from it. Nightmares would come every night that seemed even worse than Kat's. Everyone woke on the first night when it had been particularly bad as she screamed out "I should have been there! Let me go! Please! Let me go!" Everyone that heard it, which was practically the entirety of the girl Gryffindors, had been extremely freaked out and had called in McGonnagall. This only made Sara seem more detached afterwards, but at least she was no longer screaming, but down to mumbling.  
  
Kat felt for her. It was one thing to have to leave your best friend behind and barely ever see them, it was quite another to lose them forever. Every night when Sara would dream, Kat would wake up and hear it. Usually it was her that did all the nighttime screaming so she wasn't used to it. Everyone else slept on as if it were just another night, this only made Kat feel worse about dreaming like she did so often at night. Still, nothing could compare to the sadness they heard from Sara. Kat began to feel guilty for complaining of her dreams some nights when it was obvious Sara was going through so much more. It was so hard to listen to her berating herself for something she couldn't prevent and then pleading with whatever was in her dreams to let her go so she could do something. It brought tears to Kat's eyes every time.  
  
It had been about a week now that this had gone on, it was Wednesday night as Kat was once again woken by the mumbles that were only just beginning. Kat didn't think she could handle much more of this. She wanted to help Sara, stop her pain, let her be rid of the nightmares that plagued her. But how could she do that for her? Even now, Kat hardly felt much of a help to Sara, all she could do was put a hand on her shoulder as she stood by and watched. If you're such a good friend you should ~do~ something, right? But what could she do?  
  
Then a thought occurred to her, what if she could go into her mind to see the dreams for herself? Then maybe she could have an idea of what to do or how to help or something. It was worth a shot, right? No, she didn't have control of her powers yet, she didn't know what she could do. ~You'll never know if you don't try,~ said the little voice in the back of her head. So out of necessity, friendship, desperation, and probably some sleepiness, Kat decided it was worth a try. So getting up out of her bed, she slowly walked over to Sara's bed.  
  
Pulling back the shadow covered drapes, Sara's face came into view. It was tear stained already and had a look of desperation and sadness upon it. Now, to get inside her mind without everything going haywire Kat needed a focus point. Usually her focus point was Snape and he was only used to pull her out of some tough spots. Maybe if she could focus her power through something so that it could be more controlled while she was still learning all this stuff. Of coarse! Why hadn't she thought of it before? It was simple; all she had to do was use her hand as a focus. Simple… hopefully.  
  
Taking a deep breath Kat slowly brought a trembling hand high above Sara's forehead. Kat closed her eyes and began to concentrate, sending her power through her hand, focusing on controlling what energy came out. It wasn't all that hard to accomplish actually. As Kat concentrated on her hand she brought it slowly down towards Sara's head, waiting for her powers to reach out to her. Right before Kat's hand touched Sara's head, it kicked in. It was like falling forever and flying, being pushed and being pulled, going to someplace familiar and different - all at the same time, and all in an instant.  
  
Snapping her eyes open with a gasp that echoed around her, Kat tried to make sense of where she was. She was floating in darkness, nothing but black and the echo of desperate cries, Sara's cries. Kat looked down and saw a tiny spot of light, straining her eyes she could almost make out tiny objects. Then with a blink she was in the little spot of light and could see the scene perfectly. Her head snapped around, looking at the strange distortions this place had on the outer areas. Looking down again made her feet hit the ground with a soft thud, but the impact shook her body to the bone. The world seemed to tilt violently and Kat tried to regain her balance. She threw her arms out, in case she fell, as she staggered forward some. At the last minute the world seemed to right itself and it felt like the shift under her feat had never happened. Taking some calming breaths Kat looked around once again.  
  
There was a small hospital bed to her left. The occupant in it was a girl Kat had never seen before. She had light brown hair that could have been pretty once but was soiled and matted with blood. She looked painfully skinny and there were deep, purple circles under her eyes. The once white sheets around her were old and had blood spots all over them. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her breathing came in deep, heavy rasps of breath. Just the sound of it made your chest tighten at what she must be going through. There were others standing around her cast in shadow and standing back a few feet from the bed, just looking at it's occupant with stoic expressions. One was wearing a doctor's outfit and the other two looked as if they might be Sara's parents.  
  
The person in the bed had to be Samantha, if this was what was in Sara's dreams every night, Kat could see how painful it must be to watch. How the others could just stand around and not do anything, couldn't they at least try to comfort her, ease her pain in the slightest? Kat curled her hands into fists as anger began to eat at her, why didn't they ~do~ something? Samantha's chest labored trying to get oxygen through the closed up throat. It was with a large shuddering breath that the breath finally broke through into her lungs. Afterwards it caused a small, painful, piteous whimper escape her throat. Kat was about to storm over there and do something after that happened when she heard a sound to her right. It sounded like the clinking of metal…  
  
Whipping her head around to the right caused wind to rush wildly in her ears and her vision blur. When everything settled again Kat gasped at what she saw. Sara was chained by her wrists to a large stonewall. She pulled with all her might against them but the chains held tight. Sara paced back and forth, the length of the wall as far as the chains would allow. She was a caged animal, very distressed and extremely high-strung. After pacing a while she crouched by the corner and curled up against the wall, rocking back and forth. She muttered and whimpered little incoherencies before finally bolting to her feet to scream out "Do something!" It echoed around loudly in the little scene, making Kat cover her ears but it went unheard by the rest of the people.  
  
Sara ran towards the bed again, just to be hindered by the chains as the struggled against them. A loud, low groaning, creaking noise came from in front of Kat. Learning her lesson last time, Kat slowly looked in front of her. Humongous blue crystals were rising out of the floor as Sara struggled against the chains. Once Sara finally stop pulling against the chains and began to pace once again the crystals stopped growing. Even if Sara could break out of the chains, by the time she had done so the crystals would block her way. Kat felt so sorry for her, not being able to do anything, everyone else not bothering to. It must be so horrible to watch every night.  
  
Kat could have slapped herself then. She came here to help and all she was doing was standing around listening to Sara scream out to everyone else. Kat tried to walk over to Sara but her feet seemed rooted to the spot. She looked down and found that every time she tried to move her feet would sink more and more into the floor. She quickly stopped her struggling. Putting herself into a predicament wasn't going to help Sara any. Determined to do something to help, Kat raised her hand and pointed it at one of the cuffs holding Sara's hands. Focusing all the power she could into them, she attempted to break them apart. Kat started to shake with the effort and very slowly began to sink again, but she didn't stop. Finally with a loud clank it broke off. Sara stopped and stared at her wrist stunned, not knowing what just happened.  
  
As Sara finally realized Kat was there she knew it was from her this sudden help was coming. She also knew that she was paying the price for it as she watched Kat slowly sink into the ground. Kat could hardly notice anything, for she was already concentrating on the second wrist. By the time she was in the floor to her knees it broke. Sara didn't waste anytime, as soon as it was off she bolted for the bed. The crystals had other ideas. When Sara had begun to run, they started to grow once again. About halfway through the forest of distorting blue the crystals began to swallow Sara. Kat began to panic, as one arm still stretched out through the mass of crystals was the only thing left to see of Sara.  
  
Could a person die in their dreams, could she kill them? Worse yet, could confining Sara there send her into a coma?  
  
"NO!"  
  
Kat barely heard herself scream out the words that echoed with a force around her. Concentrating all her power through both her hands she sent it at the crystals full blast. They shimmered and vibrated, slowly beginning to shiver more until they were shaking violently. Kat was strained to her limit and made a small sound of strain deep in her throat as she sent out the last of the power she could to break the crystals. They shattered with a force, flying everywhere as Kat finally stopped, exhausted. The crystal bits stopped in mid, shimmering, whistling, flight and slowly dissolved into the air, shedding light on everything. Sara collapsed on the ground as the rest on the people in the scene dissolved away as well. Samantha's bed began to glow a heavenly white. The blood stains were gone, her breathing eased, every inch of her seemed to be restored back to a lovely young woman simply slumbering peacefully in a bed of white, just for her.  
  
Since she was now up to her waist in floor, Kat had to put her hands on the ground in front of her to keep her balance. She looked anxiously at Sara, silently wishing for her to get up, to be okay. A small twitch came from Sara causing Kat to hold her breath. Ever so slowly, Sara pushed herself to her hands and knees before she dared looked up. Upon seeing Samantha in the bed and a clear path in front of her, Sara called out her name and ran over beside her. She took a hold of one of Samantha's hands with both of hers as tears streamed down her face.  
  
"Samantha?" it was barely more than a whisper, "Samantha, it's okay, I'm here now." She took a deep breath that came out sharply as she tried to stifle a sob, "I'm so sorry. I should have been there before, I should have been there…" Sara closed her eyes tightly and tried to contain her sadness and tears flowed unchecked from her eyes.  
  
At this, Samantha's eyes fluttered open. Startling green eyes looked up into Sara's face as she smiled faintly. "It's okay." Her whisper, though soft, could be heard around the room. The voice she spoke with seemed angelic and made Sara open her eyes to look at her friend. "I know you couldn't make it. I know you wanted to. It's okay, I understand."  
  
"Oh, Samantha." Sara managed to choke out between her gasps of breath as she tried to hold back her sobs, " I didn't want you to leave. They could have done something, I could have done something, but I wasn't there-"  
  
Samantha squeezed Sara's hands with her own when Sara could speak no longer, "They did all they could, and you know there was nothing you could have done. I didn't want to lose you either, that's why I wanted you to have the ring. Did you get it?" Sara nodded weakly and Samantha's smile grew wider. "Good, you know that's where we both stay, our hearts and our friendship reside in those rings. 'Through distance and fights and growth and change'" she said.  
  
Steadying her voice with all the strength she could muster, Sara finished the phrase, "'Our friendship will always be the same.'"  
  
Samantha smiled with such great warmth that Sara had to smile back, "Don't forget me?"  
  
Sara shook her head violently, "I could never. You'll always be in my heart."  
  
"Good, because you'll always be a part of me."  
  
With this Samantha closed her eyes again as she lay her head back to its former position on the pillow. She looked for all the world like and angel at rest. Sara smiled down on her with a look that showed how much love she had in her heart. Then a white light slowly took over the scene, blotting out individual figures. Kat closed her eyes and let that comfort envelop her as she slowly felt that floating sensation come over her once again. After a while, or just a little moment, Kat felt that she had accomplished what she came here for and allowed her mind to leave Sara's.  
  
Eyes flying open along with a gasp, Kat was jerked back to reality. Blinking once to get her bearings, twice to get everything back in focus. Kat looked down to find a peacefully slumbering Sara with a faint smile on her lips. So she wouldn't wake her, Kat slowly lifted her still trembling hand away from Sara. Staring blankly at her red, white speckled hand, Kat waiting for her sluggish mind to work again. She had never felt so tired before in her life. Taking in a deep breath and letting it all back out in a deep sigh Kat looked back down at Sara. But it was well worth it to see that happy face back upon her best friend's face.  
  
Forcing her aching muscles off the bed, Kat made her way back to her own. If she wasn't so tired her mind might have been racing. There were a thousand things to think about after all that happened. Her body wouldn't allow this though, she needed rest. Resigned, Kat let her head sink into the pillow as a content smile played across her lips. Sleep came fast and peaceful. 


	4. Secrets

Chapter 3  
  
Kat awoke early the next morning. Even though she was still tired, it had been impossible to sleep with how much was on her mind. The Common Room was silent and gloomy from the dim morning light that managed to push through the misty windows. She sat in one of the cushy armchairs in a corner. Her eyelids were heavy and her body was exhausted, but sleep seemed like a far off memory to her now. Images of last night's adventure flashed through her mind. It had been an experience she wouldn't soon forget. More so, it hadn't caused an overload, nor had it hurt Sara. For that matter, it may have greatly helped her.  
  
This brought up a very good question, could she manage to enter someone's mind again? According to what happened last night, as long as she had a focus it could be possible. A benefit to this would be that overloads could possibly be controlled, better yet, stopped all together. Levitation skills had become a lot better with the more practice she put into it after all. Control was the key, as it is for a lot of things. In her first year, everyone had messed up spells and caused some pretty strange things to happen, Neville still accomplished this. But like Flitwick had told them then, "With practice comes control, and with control comes perfection.", it was still the case now. She couldn't just let her mind run off with her all the time until it drove her insane. She could practice levitation until she could lift Hogwarts itself, but it wasn't going to even touch on her psychic abilities. She had to learn how to do this, so it was settled. With a large sigh, she resigned herself into the facts of it all.  
  
Now comes planning, how she was going to manage this. A focus - her hand, it was all she had until she could control the power that flowed directly from her mind. Next, she needed a victim- no, that sounded too gruesome, even though she feared that might be a good way to describe it. Pushing that thought from her mind, she tried again. She needed a test subject, a little better, it still sounded bad but it was more the description of whoever she chose should have. Now, what she would do, it should be nice and formed out. Just barely tap the edge of the person's mind, quick and simple and everything should be fine. That sounded good. All she had to do now was gather up enough courage to do this. Even though it was mainly fear keeping her back, conscience screamed at her that she was invading someone else's privacy. If she did this really quickly though, she wouldn't "hear" more than a few words. Nothing much, nothing to get over excited about, and nothing that would make much sense. Simple.  
  
Suddenly she realized how much like Snape she was thinking and laughed a little to herself. He was getting to her, though it didn't surprise her. She could probably describe the way his mind worked batter than even he.  
  
One of the early birds came downstairs just then. It was a sixth year girl who Kat barely knew but they always were friendly to each other. Mainly because they were one of the few that got up so early, therefore they always saw each other. She nodded at Kat and Kat nodded back smiling slightly. It was understood by the early birds that nodding was just as good as any other greeting and smiling wasn't necessary, mostly because everyone was far too tired and noise was so much louder in the mornings. Kat had always smiled back though; it was habit that came from hanging around Sara so much. Sara. Now that brought her back to the former subject.  
  
Looking back at the other Gryffindor as she began to slowly pack her bag for the day, Kat figured this was as good of time as any. She needed to get this done before she lost her courage, besides everyone was still asleep, an overload wouldn't be too bad this time of morning. Barely lifting up her left hand she pointed the palm in the direction of the other girl. Concentrating her mind and what she wanted in a small, steady, stream, Kat reached out and brushed the other girl's mind.  
  
"…of all the classes…" The little piece of thought had started off extremely soft before gaining volume, then dieing back down.  
  
Kat held her breath. No noise other than the rustling of the backpack played in her ears. Heaving a huge sigh of relief Kat sank back into the chair again. That hadn't been so hard. In fact, it had been pretty easy. Did she dare try it again? Just to make sure it wasn't a lucky shot.  
  
As if on cue, one of the other early birds came down just then. He was a nerdy, third year that had this strange thing about one day admiring Hermione, then the next day envying her. Everyone just supposed it was some nerd rivalry thing and never said much about it. He and Kat exchanged the customary nods as he went to sit on a sofa and pull out an Arithmancy book to read. Kat figured that this would be just as good a time as any. Holding up her palm once more to face him, she focused in on his mind.  
  
"…in the sense that…"  
  
Kat smiled triumphantly as the sound died down and nothing else but the normal shuffling of sounds were heard. How come she hadn't had the courage to try this before? It was simple, and she was hurting no one. Not even herself, much to her relief. Maybe she could manage this. If she practiced like this, then just a little long, and a little longer, after a while she'd get the hang of it. Smiling wider she thought, ~This could end up a very interesting day.~  
  
  
  
The whole day did, in fact, enc up being rather interesting. Kat would jump into people's minds as often as she could. For practice sake she began taping into people's minds up to three in a row without a break, then she would rest some and do so again. The best part was that once the combined clips of sentences from different minds were connected, they came out quite funny. A sudden outburst of laughter in the middle of class had caused a lot of strange looks in her direction. One of her favorites had ended up saying, "I thought I… jumped all over… that broom stuck… Proffesor Flitwick's, but…" This had caused a fit of laughter while walking through the halls from class to class. She had to lean against the railing to keep from falling over as tears of laughter welled up in her eyes. By the time she was able walk again she had almost been late for class. Though, for the longest time, if anyone mentioned brooms or Flitwick, Kat would start laughing again. She thanked her lucky stars that she didn't have charms that day.  
  
It was supper now and everyone was in the Great Hall. Kat was in a better mood than she had been in weeks. Sara, though a bit subdued, was talking and smiling again. Christy looked so happy at this sudden change in mood that she was talking with Sara as fast and as much as she had ever seen her talk. Kat had gained a lot of control over her power in a fairly small amount of time. As she took breaks she would chat happily with Sara and Christy, then leave them to their happy ramblings on the topic as Kat tested her powers. Life was going by nicely.  
  
Kat was now working on singling people out through the mass of students. Since she didn't know that many people from other houses, she had to make do with glimpses of a face to focus on. Concentrating on another Hufflepuff, Kat reached out past the Ravenclaw table and managed to catch a glimpse of his mind. Or at least, she hoped it was the guy she had picked out. At least she knew it was a Hufflepuff by the way he talked about their Quidditch team. Smiling to herself she chose another person. This one was kind of cute, if anything she enjoyed looking at him more than anything.  
  
"…and that Kat girl. To bad I didn't have the guts to ask any of them to the Yule Ball…"  
  
Kat froze. Had she just heard that? From ~him?~ The one she had just be fawning over? Curiosity had kept her in his mind longer than she should have, and curiosity brought her back. Just for a little glimpse.  
  
"…Black hair and blue eyes. You don't usually see that kind of combination. It's really cute. To bad she keeps her hair up most of the time, it looks good down…"  
  
Unwillingly she began to giggle. It was highly flirty, girly, all that she didn't like of Pavarti and Lavender, but she couldn't help it. He was quite flattering. She'd have to remember to wear her hair down more often. Little by little, so he wouldn't notice too much. The guy looked over at her for a second before turning away to say something to his friend. Kat's smile widened as she reached out to him again. ~I wonder what he's thinking now?~  
  
When she did catch hold of his mind, it was more than she bargained for. Staying in his mind so long after the others had been too much. With those flattering thoughts of his and cute little smile, it had made Kat forget completely about taking a break. An overload was fast in coming. Before it got too bad she flashed a smile in Sara's direction, encouraging her keep talking. That would buy her some time until she regained control. Searching through the mass of thoughts she found her savior, that voice she knew so well. Taking a deep breath she desperately tried to keep her breathing level and keep her face from showing pain. That was a feat in itself.  
  
As she listened to Snape's thoughts it surprised her to find out that he had been watching her. In fact he had been for quite some time. He was comparing all the little things she did everyday. Why was he so interested in this? Were her overloads that obvious? No one else had said anything, or was even thinking about it for that matter. Snape was critically analyzing her now because her head was slightly tilted down. She couldn't bring it up though, she was trying to hide the pain. So as to not let him think anything was going on she tried to eat something. This was a bad idea, every move of her jaw was a piercing pain that went through her head. Swallowing quickly, which was painful as well, she tried to pretend interest in the conversation. This involved lifting her head a bit. This was also a bad idea.  
  
"She feels pain. I can see it on her face." Snape thought.  
  
It couldn't be that obvious, could it? Sure, her face was pained some, but controlled. How the hell was he finding this out? All her worry wasn't letting he concentrate nearly enough. The overload wasn't getting much better. So, she went back to her old method of trying to decide what to eat and keeping her head low. Let Snape draw his own conclusions, it was most likely he wouldn't figure it out. Snape was more open-minded than she had thought. He had gone through a thousand possibilities and knew that nothing health wise was wring with her. She didn't know what he suspected that could be so awful that he must know her secret, but he was going to find out. Not knowing what else to do Snape had a sudden idea, and it would be quick and simple. This shot fear through Kat, she knew what he was planning.  
  
Then he thought out in his deciphering was again, rather loudly, and straight at her. "My theory is you can read minds. If this is true, you already know. Now, if you can hear me I will keep my thoughts going, for that seems to help you when you get like this. If you can't hear me, then I shall keep my thoughts under control and not think another one until your little episode is over. I'm looking directly at you, all you have to do is look at me and nod." With that, he shut his mind down.  
  
Kat panicked. He couldn't do this! She knew she shouldn't tell him, she couldn't let anyone know. He figured it out! How? No, this is all a hunch to him, he doesn't know for sure. But she couldn't just stick this out without his help. When he wasn't around were the times when she was in the common room, or in the halls, or in a class. She always had his help when the big boys of overloads came in the Great Hall. She didn't know if she could handle all this. It wouldn't stop on it's own. Not without his help. Not before she went insane. She needed his help and should ask for it. But she couldn't, no one could know she was a mutant!  
  
Her whirling mind didn't do anything to help the overload, only made things worse. If she didn't do something soon, whether he started his thought processes or not, it wouldn't matter, she wouldn't be able to hear him. So what was her option? To tell him? She couldn't! Just couldn't! That didn't stop the pain though. It was coursing through her as her mind felt like it was about to explode. What could she do? Out of desperation, she did the only thing she could do.  
  
Looking up, and not so well concealing the pain that contorted her face, she locked eyes with her would be savior. He looked like he was simply scanning the students but his eyes were piercing. She nodded at him with pleading eyes. He looked away from her and back to his food. For a fleeting moment fear clenched her gut thinking that he wasn't going to help her after all. But it wasn't true. He began to run through his entire stock of potion ingredients. How little were left after today's lessons and when he should go get more. He couldn't hide the loathing in the way his mind flashed to the thought of seeing Professor Sprout. Kat knew all too well that Snape hated talking to her. Sprout was insistent that Snape was a very good-natured and talkative man deep down inside and that she was the one to bring that out of him. Actually, she was almost right in her theory, well, except the thought that she was going to be the one to drag it out of him.  
  
Kat concentrated on his calculating voice on the amounts of ingredients he would need. She was actually trying so hard not to think about letting out secret that she could hear his subconscious voice counting up the amount of time he had to listen to Sprout ramble on. Also, on how many comments he could throw at her to make her mad at him so that she wouldn't talk to him for a while. She would have found this rather amusing had the current situation not looked so bad. But it did. In fact, it looked down right horrible. She pushed those thoughts out of her mind, she shouldn't dwell on it. The end was near enough that it would be over before she could think up all the different scenarios. After that morbid thought Kat realized that the overload was over. Only Snape's mind played in her ears.  
  
Kat tried not to look too down trodden as she turned her attention back to Sara. Casting a weak smile to her friends she tried to eat some more, but food just didn't look good at the moment. For that matter, what little she had eaten felt as if it was about to come up. Her mouth was dry so she took a little gulp of her pumpkin juice. Her nerves, because of all that had happened, were high strung and this had made her throat close up. It was highly uncomfortable trying to swallow what little she had drank. Super was pretty much over and everyone was about to leave. But not soon enough for Kat's likings.  
  
Snape had snuck up behind her and leaned over a little next to her ear without Kat knowing. Or her hyperly chatting friends for that matter. "Mrs. Jennings," he rumbled in her ear. Kat jumped but managed to stifle a squeak as she half turned to see Snape's face. "I trust you have not forgotten our little… appointment?" He said threateningly.  
  
Kat was drawing a blank. What was he talking about? Suddenly it hit her, she could have smacked herself for being so dumb. He wanted to talk to her about it, or more likely, turn her in himself. He'd most likely get brownie points for that at the Ministry. Or worse yet, he wanted to let Voldemort think he was still loyal to him by giving her to him. She swallowed hard and tried to answer him in a level voice, but it didn't quite work.  
  
"N-n-no, sir." She stuttered out. It was barely more that a choked whisper.  
  
"Good," he said briskly. "Then I expect to see you in my office immediately." With that he left.  
  
The Great Hall was dismissed shortly after he left. He trusted her to come to him? Couldn't she just run now before anyone figured it out? She looked over at her friends who looked about as shocked as she about Snape wanting to see her. They gave her confused but mostly apologetic looks. Kat couldn't make her face into anything but worried.  
  
"Don't worry," Sara said and put a hand on her shoulder. "It won't be that bad. Everyone that goes in manages to come out alive." She chuckled a bit and smiled wide.  
  
Kat knew this was said to make her feel better but it only made her fear intensify. She had a feeling she was about to be the only one that didn't fit that statement. Though, she couldn't let her friends worry too much. She gave them a weak smile and began to walk towards the door. They walked with her until they got to the split off. Sara hugged her quickly and encouraged her that she'd be fine. Christy smiled and agreed with Sara. They both gave her a thumbs up before leaving down the hallway to the North Tower.  
  
For a moment Kat stood there and entertained the idea of running for it. She quickly dismissed it. It was most likely that she wouldn't get too far before she was caught… or killed. No, she shouldn't think like that. She wouldn't turn tail and run at the first sign of danger, she was better than that, she was a Gryffindor after all. She would take this with her head held high and go out with a fight. So, double-checking for her wand, Kat held her head up and marched towards the dungeons with confidence. Only to have it fail her half way and have her march of courage turned into her feared death march.  
  
Trying not to think about all the things that could happen, she concentrated of keeping her breathing steady. This was a task in itself since her lungs wanted to refuse oxygen until absolutely necessary and her heartbeat was racing. Her legs were beginning to rebel on her as well. They became big pieces of led and her muscles didn't feel like they could handle lifting a feather. The cold stone floor was jarring as her feet made impact. The hallway itself seemed to stretch longer and longer. Seconds felt like hours. Dread crept up on her with every forced step. The whole world held its breath, waiting to see her doom. Then she was there. In front of the potion classroom door.  
  
Every muscle in her body sprang to life and told her to run. Her mind screamed with terror, telling her all the places she could hide, maybe she could find somewhere safe. But her body seemed on autopilot as it lifted one shaky arm and pushed open the door. She slowly walked in trying to fight the incredible urge to run. The classroom was cold and dark. The silence pressed in on her as if it might crush her. Breathing was increasingly difficult as it came in short little gasps of air. Once in the middle of the classroom her feet refused to move any more. Every little shadow that made the slightest flicker of movement would cause her head to snap in its direction only to see nothing.  
  
"Miss Jennings," came that low, crisp voice from her right.  
  
The sound had made her jump and gasp for breath. She whirled around to look at him. He looked at her levelly, his face expressionless.  
  
"Quite jumpy today, aren't we?" he mocked her.  
  
She may have been mad about that at any other time, but for now she was too scared to breath a word. He looked at her searchingly, letting the silence build between them. She wanted to run so bad but her limbs wouldn't move. Her mind was a whirl and she felt queasy. Things never looked or felt so bad for her before in her entire life. Well, save the day she heard her parent's deaths.  
  
That thought was like cold water splashed on her. How could she stay rooted to the spot like this and think of running away? Her parents fought to the end, she would die honorably as well, and then come back to haunt this sorry git. With that thought in mind, Kat raised her chin and took a couple of breaths. He would NOT make her feel an inch tall over something she couldn't help.  
  
Attempting speech, Kat uttered out a shaky question. "What are you going to do to me?"  
  
Snape raised his eyebrows as if that statement had come as a shock. This didn't fool Kat, she knew he had a plan all worked out. As always. …Didn't he?  
  
He spoke then and Kat suppressed the urge to jump once again. "What makes you think I want to do anything to you? Granted, it has been years since a true psychic was born, but it is most certainly a good thing." Kat was shocked. Psychic wizards and witches? That's what he thought she was? The only thing she had ever heard like that was when Trelawny had spoken about those with the Inner Eye. But she knew for a fact Snape didn't believe any of that, nor did, most likely, any of the other teachers. Snape glared at her now as he continued. "What made you think this was a bad thing?" he demanded.  
  
Kat opened her mouth and her jaw bobbed up and down but nothing came out. Snape looked a bit impatient at this. "Let me guess then." He said snidely after a few more seconds. Kat abruptly closed her mouth. "Since you're muggle born you don't know much about the magical world. So when you found out Harry was a parcel tongue you didn't find it bad at all until others did and you thought this was the same way."  
  
That was a good excuse really. Kat wasn't going to be one to argue if it saved her life and withheld her secret. So, making her face into a mask of guilt she feebly nodded and hung her head some waiting for it. And it came, sure enough.  
  
"Foolish girl. Gryffindors are boasted about for their courage, but it's never mentioned of their stupidity." He scolded. Kat cringed. Harsh. He went on more calmly. "All you have to do is learn to control what you have and then register at the Ministry."  
  
"No!" Kat's head shot up, her eyes wide with fear.  
  
He sneered at her, "And why not?" the last word he snapped at her, making her jump again.  
  
She fumbled for words. What was she going to tell him now? She had better do some quick thinking… "W-well," she stuttered, only to get a glare from it. An idea struck her, so she plowed through it. "I've read your mind for a while now. All out of necessity of coarse. And I know You-Know-Who is looking for more powerful people on his side. He might come looking for me if he knows about me, about what I can do. I'd be easier than any potion to obtain information and faster than a spell…" she trailed off and just looked at him with pleading eyes. She made sense and he couldn't deny it. Now it was up to him whether nobility won out over his spy work. She had never seen him as a noble man, but surely he had some soul. Hopefully.  
  
He stared her down for a moment before he spoke. "You're right. The less people on his side the better." He looked concealed, as if hiding something from her. She only hoped it wasn't betrayal. No, of coarse it wasn't. She'd read his mind long enough, she was just nervous. That's all, nervous from her worry.  
  
Snape's eyes took on a look as if he were battling an inner argument. By the way his mind worked, he most likely was. Finally a side won out and he spoke before his mind could say anymore. "You will still need to learn to control your power. By the looks of what happened today in the Great Hall, you could use some control over it. How often does that happen?"  
  
Kat blinked. He was offering to help? Maybe she was dreaming. It was possible. The look on his face said the he didn't want to have to wait for answers every time so Kat mentally shook herself and answered.  
  
"About every three days," she managed to whisper out. For some reason her voice just would not go over that sound level. Snape didn't seem to mind that though, it must make him feel as if he still held a great fear factor, even though she knew so much about him.  
  
"When did it start and what is it exactly?"  
  
"It started that day in the potion's when I passed out." Kat figured that was the least embarrassing was to put it. "It's an overload. I can hear everyone's thoughts at once in my mind, it's overwhelming." She didn't know how to elaborate, though somehow he looked like he wanted her to. Well, he'd just have to live with that description.  
  
"I can imagine." He stated stoically. "Why then, do you read my thoughts when it happens?"  
  
Kat colored a bit at this. She should have seen that one coming. "That day in class I had accidentally read your mind and that caused an overload. The second time I had one was in the Great Hall. The only voice I could lock on to was yours. I don't really know why. I suppose it's because I had read it before. So when I concentrated on your thoughts, I gained control again and the overload died away." She cursed herself for how little a voice she had. He looked skeptical, but she couldn't say it with more confidence because her voice was barely making sound as it was.  
  
"So you need a focus. Reasonable." He said a bit grudgingly. Probably was hoping to take off points for reading the teacher's mind. Well, he wasn't getting it this time. "What do you do when I am not around?"  
  
"I usually have to stick it out. But it's not that bad. The Great Hall is the worst because of all the people there. So today when you stopped…" her voice failed on her then. Snape simply nodded.  
  
"Well, that may be for the best. Now we know what's truly wrong with you and can work on this." Kat looked a little worried at this statement. Who all was he going to tell? He saw the look on her face and elaborated. "The less who know of this, the safer until the Dark Lord falls from power permanently." To bad he didn't look as if he believed that statement. "If you wish, it can go no further than me. I have a feeling that no one needs to tell the Headmaster anything, as it is, he knows everything that goes on in this school without informant."  
  
It sounded as so he truly believed this, and after all that Kat has seen in this school and how much he seems to know all the time, she believed it too. That didn't make her feel much better about it though. She supposed however, that if Dumbledore hadn't said anything about her so far, then her never would. Now that could be one on her side. Dumbledore was a good man, she just hoped that he wouldn't be faced with the option to choose sides. The ministry or her, she wasn't ~that~ special.  
  
"So, this leaves me to the fact that I must help you develop your powers." Snape said matter of factly.  
  
This dumbfounded Kat. He wanted to help her? Snape, of all people wanted to help her? This was almost too much.  
  
"Y… you're going to help me?" she chocked out.  
  
He looked severely annoyed at this statement. "I'm not going to let a student run around the school with untamed powers. ~Especially~ in my potions class." He said snidely. That figures though, he wanted to protect his Slytherins. If anything happened to them, it was his head on the block considering the high social status of some of their parents.  
  
All Kat could do was stare at him. For a moment he looked like he was having another battle. But before he finished it, he spoke one side's opinion. "I also want a favor from you since you're going to be taking up my free time now." He stopped there, as if waiting for an answer but more so, because he was having great conflict on whether to ask it. What was so bad?  
  
Kat took a chance and reached out into his mind. It was sitting there on the edge of his mind, just waiting to be asked as the rest of his mind reconsidered it and tried to come up with something else to amend for what he already said. What he was dying to ask was, "I want you to spy on Slytherin."  
  
This got Kat extremely curious, she had to question it, at least it would save him the trouble of saying it. "You're the Head of House and they think you're still on You-Know-Who's side. Why do you want me to spy on them when you're in the perfect position to do so?"  
  
Her question threw him off guard as he simply stared at her for a long moment. Recovering, he put a bit of a snip in his reply. "You only do that when I give you permission. You don't know what I might be thinking."  
  
Kat blushed fiercely. ~That~ had been unexpected. He went on though, the slightest bit dejected. "No one but the Dark Lord himself knows the full story. Everyone has their posts and obligations. Most of my house is getting a diverse amount of orders that are to be shared with no one. Including me. I need to know what these are, and you are the only one who can help me find out. For this reason, I'll do anything to see that you can manage you're skills up to their maximum."  
  
Well, that settled it. Spy work comes before compassion, at least she wasn't dead because of it. Still, Kat contemplated all this. If she spied for him, then she would also know the full story. That little detail could come in handy in saving her life. It could also mean that she'd learn a lot more than she wanted to. But that was minor in comparison. She had to also keep up the shared that she was psychic and not mutant so that Snape wouldn't find out. All this added up to one sure thing, she was studying with Snape, alone, at night, whenever possible. Well isn't that just peachy?  
  
"Okay," Kat said slowly. The comment mainly to make sure she still had a voice. "Agreed. So when do we start practicing?"  
  
He looked at her with an odd expression but it was gone before she could place it. "Why not now?" he stated. "Usually, my meetings with students not of my house last longer than a single conversation."  
  
Kat was momentarily stumped. "Now?" she said and immediately regretted it.  
  
"I do believe I spoke loud enough to be heard Miss Jennings, unlike you."  
  
She flinched at that. Oh ya, this was going to be a ball. "Okay then… Where do we start?"  
  
Snape paced to his desk and picked up a piece of paper. "It seems you have a problem with lengths of time and focusing. Am I correct?" he looked up at her. She simply nodded. "Then we will start with length of time. Since there is no one in here but me, it will be fine. I will read this paper, and you will recite it as I do so. Understood?" She nodded again. They began.  
  
Having had so many, Kat knew what an overload felt like. By the end of the paper it felt as if she had overloaded and receded from it three times. This ended up in a twinge of a headache. Snape asked her how it had gone and she relayed this information. He simply nodded, wrote something on the paper, picked up another and they began again. This went on for another ten papers. When he was about to pick up another she had to stop him.  
  
"I'm exhausted. Can't we continue later?" she said. Her speech was slightly slurred because of how tired she was and her eyelids were drooping. She had a headache that throbbed in her ears but she knew better than to complain of that.  
  
Snape then seemed to realize how tired she really was and agreed to let her go. They made arrangements to meet tomorrow when she was more awake so they could figure out how they were going to keep practicing without anyone getting suspicious. As she walked to the door she accidentally bumped into a chair. It scraped across the floor and rang in her ears. The loud noise had been enough to shoot pain through her already throbbing head. She made a small, involuntary whimper of pain when it happened and Snape had heard it.  
  
"I know that running into a chair doesn't hurt that bad when you're that tired." He said it more in a way that he knew something else was wrong rather than meaning it to be an insult.  
  
"I have a bit of a head ache." Kat whispered. This time more to the fact that sound hurt rather than that she was afraid.  
  
Snape "hmm"ed and went over to his stores. He pulled out a large bottle of liquid and a small glass. He poured a little into the glass and brought it over to her. "Drink." He commanded.  
  
It smelled awful but she knew better than to ask questions so she drank it. It didn't taste as bad as it smelled, but it was still wasn't butterbeer. Resisting the temptation to wrinkle her nose she swallowed hard and handed the now empty glass back to him. Before she could ask he said, "It's to help all bodily pains. I use it mainly for headaches but its capabilities don't stop there. Unfortunately, it does nothing for pain inflicted from spells." He said the last part like an afterthought. But Kat had a feeling it held much more meaning than that.  
  
Snape walked back over to his stores to put the things away. Kat was about to leave but something held her back, something had been bugging her ever since super. Before she could lose her courage she went ahead and asked it.  
  
"How did you know?"  
  
Snape gave her cruel glare. "I am not the mind reader here, you must clarify your ramblings."  
  
Kat blushed but continued. "How did you know I read your mind to help me during overloads?"  
  
Snape paused thoughtfully at this. "Because I know the face of hidden pain." He said finally. He stared at the empty glass still in his hand before he looked up and placed it back on shelf and muttering a cleaning spell on it. "Good night, Miss Jennings." He said with a tone of finality.  
  
Kat knew when to leave. "G'night," she said turning back around to the door. She walked out slowly and about halfway down the hall heard the quiet click of the door closing. That had been quite an experience. Now time for some sleep. 


	5. Amigos y Rivales

Chapter 4  
  
~Smack!~  
  
The sharp, piercing sound echoed through the common room as Kat entered it. There was a ruffle of robes swishing as everyone moved out of the way. Pushing her way forward Kat caught sight of what was going on. Sara and some other girl were faced off in front of the spiral staircase to the girl's dormitory. Sara's face was red with anger and her eyes blurred with tears as they shot venom at the other girl. Kat didn't particularly know the other girl other than the fact that she slept in the room next to her group's. The girl in question had a red mark of Sara's hand across her cheek and was slowly bringing her head back around to face Sara once more.  
  
"How - dare - you." Sara growled at the girl, making every word precise as she bit back tears.  
  
The girl replied back in a voice dripping with loathing. "That just shows how pathetic you truly are. You can't even justify - " but she didn't get to finish off the statement before Sara was on her.  
  
Sara was muggle born, so first instinct wasn't to go for the wand, but to tackle. The girl didn't know what hit her before Sara was on top of her taking as many punches as possible. Everyone watching gasped in horror. No one had EVER seen Sara act like this before. Nowhere ~near~ it. Even Kat didn't think Sara would do something like this. What ever this girl had said or done, it had been bad, and Kat had a feeling she knew what it was about. A few more sickening punches and the girl's face was bloody. But she wasn't totally helpless. Sara had her wand arm pinned under her knee, but the girl was using her free hand to tear flesh off of any exposed skin she could find, mainly the face. As enraged as Sara was though, she didn't seem to notice. Her sick satisfaction came from the revenge of bringing as much blood as she could. Kat had to stop this.  
  
Pushing her way through the crowd and rushing forward she took hold of a hand that was about to come crashing down on the shrieking girl. "Sara! Stop!" Kat yelled.  
  
Sara whirled around to face her. The anger and loathing brought on by deep despair was almost too much for Kat to handle. Christy suddenly burst through the mob with a look of despair and panic on her face. She took one look at the girl on the ground and scowled at her with all the hate she could muster. Before the girl could move another muscle Christy had her free arm tightly clasped in her own. Kat let Christy handle the other as she slowly put an arm around the front of Sara and helped her up. The look in Sara's eyes didn't lighten any as they went back to glaring at the girl. The girl spit out some blood and directed it at Sara. Kat was using all her strength to keep holding Sara back.  
  
"No, It's not worth it. Leave it. Leave it." She chided her.  
  
Christy held the girl's shoulders to the ground, not that the girl looked as if she could stand up anyways. That was probably Christy's whole point in doing so. Reaching out and taking hold of the girl's wrist she stopped the sudden reach for her wand. This had inspired Sara and Kat had to do the same. Both girls were working to restrain their captives as everyone stood and stared until an authoritative cry froze all movement. McGonagall storms up to the scene followed closely by a very flushed Hermione. The Head of House's lips were taught and her eyes glared at around with a dangerous twinkle in them.  
  
"What is going on here?" she demanded in a tone that refused argument.  
  
"She attacked me! For no reason just came down and - " the girl started to accuse.  
  
"You bitch! You started this whole thing! Don't act as if you didn't!" but Sara was cut off as well.  
  
"Enough!" cried McGonagall and waved her hands in the air to call for order. Both girls quieted, though resentfully. "Someone," she spoke more calmly but no less dangerously, "tell me what just happened." She suddenly pointed at Seamus who was one of those in front of the ring around the girls. "You. Tell me. Now."  
  
Seamus gulped and took a deep breath before answering cautiously, "Melanie said… something to Sara… and Sara got mad… and Melanie just made snide comments… then Sara slapped Melanie and then Melanie started throwing insults and then Sara tackled Melanie and then Melanie tried to get her wand but Sara stopped her and the Sara started throwing punched and Melanie clawed back but Sara was really mad and the Kat and Christy came over and tried to stop them but they kept trying to go at it again and Melanie spit on Sara and Sara tried to attack Melanie again - "  
  
"That's quite enough, thank you." Said McGonagall. It was a good thing she stopped him, for he needed breath and who knew how long his commentary. It was no small wonder why everyone was trying to get him to do so for the Quittage games, but on the other hand, he might pass out from lack of oxygen if he did.  
  
McGonagall sent a piercing glare to the two girls at hand, "Fighting is strictly prohibited within school grounds. I wouldn't expect two of my own House fighting against each other. Needless to say, I am very disappointed in both of you." Both girls looked away from her; even in anger that stare brought you back to earth with a thump. "Twenty points. For each of you." She added glaring at both of them with white pinched lips. "Be thankful I don't give you detention with Filch!" And with that she stormed out of the room giving orders to Hermione to see everyone to bed early.  
  
Wasting no time for the knowledge that 40 points was taken from their house to sink into everyone's minds, Kay hurriedly guided Sara up the stairs to their rooms. Half way up Sara started to shake. Whether it was from anger or crying, or both, Kat didn't know. All she knew was that she needed to figure out what happened. Whatever it was, she had a bad feeling that the next fight there was going to be would be Kat vs. Melanie.  
  
Once inside the room Kat lead Sara over to her bed and pushed her down on it. The look on Sara's face was stony as tears forced their way out of her eyes. She looked as if she were completely refusing to cry, as if it would Melanie too much pleasure to know that she was. Kat sat down on the bed next to Sara and put a hand on her shoulder. It was odd that Sara didn't react in the slightest to her touch; it was also scary. Rage began to well up inside Kat. She would make sure that her and Melanie would have a little chat over this. First though, she needed to know what was going on.  
  
"Come on Sara, talk to me. What happened?" Kat said quietly and a lot more calmly than she felt.  
  
Sara just kept glaring at the wall with a look that made Kat feel as if it might ignite in flames soon. And with Sara being a witch, it might just as well. A sharp breath was suddenly taken in by Sara, which caused more tears to well up in her eyes. Still, Sara refused to make a sound. She seemed to loathe the tears falling from her eyes but made no move to brush them away. They slid down over the red clawings on her cheeks. They must have hurt, but Sara seemed too far away to notice. Other than her shaking, she also refused to move or look at anything other than the wall. Kat decided to try and talk to her again.  
  
"Sara, are you even going to look at me?"  
  
At this, Sara's head slowly turned to look Kat right in the eyes. Kat almost regretted saying anything, for the full force of that stare was now on her. But this only made the worried and sympathetic look on her face increasingly more so. Of all Sara's anger and hatred, she couldn't hold up to that look. With a single, muffled sob Sara finally broke down and collapsed onto Kat's shoulder. Her body shook more as she tried to make as little noise as possible, this only resulted in more painful sudden intakes of air. Kat hugged her with all the sisterly love she could muster and let Sara cry it out. After a while she managed to calm down enough to regain control of her breathing as the tears slowly stopped.  
  
Just then Christy stormed into the room and slammed the door with a loud enough bang to shake the windows. Both Kat and Sara jumped. Christy looked as mad as Kat had ever seen her before as she strode halfway into the room and stopped in the middle of the room. Slowly straightening up Sara looked over at her. Upon seeing her friend Christy lost all looks of anger as she looked at Sara with full on sympathy.  
  
"Oh Sara!" she cried and ran over to hug her. "I am so sorry for what she said." Christy pulled back and looked Sara in the eyes with more heart than anyone in the world could muster.  
  
Sara didn't break down again, only dropped her eyes to the floor and kept her breathing steady. Curiosity got the better of Kat, "What happened?" she asked cautiously.  
  
Christy asked Sara, quietly, first, "Are you okay with me telling it?"  
  
Sara gave a half-hearted nod that made way for a worried look upon Christy's face before she looked up at Kat.  
  
"Melanie confronted Sara rather rudely about how she was keeping her up at night." She said censordly. This caused Sara to snort.  
  
"Rather rudely my ass…" Sara muttered weakly.  
  
Both Kat and Christy knew she was mad, but it took a lot to make Sara use profanity so many times in a row. Christy took a breath and told as much more detail as she dared.  
  
"Melanie told Sara said that if she was so emotionally unstable that she had to keep everyone else awake at night for petty problems than she shouldn't have been sorted in Slytherin. She even brought some Dreamless Sleep potion…" Christy got a look on her face that said she was unsure how far to go on that one.  
  
But Sara didn't seem to mind putting in that bit, "Which I dumped all over her books." She finished. Then added with a sneer, "I'd like to see her un- smudge that report drenched to mush for her."  
  
Looking a bit scared at how her friend was acting Christy rubbed her shoulder encouragingly and finished up her careful story. "Insults flew for a while until Sara couldn't handle it any more I suppose." She shot a glance at Sara who was now busy burning a hole in the floor with the look in her eyes. "I got the story out of a lot of people who were near by." She said looking back at Kat, "But Melanie locked herself in her room and refused to budge. No one will help me get her out because the perfects were ordered to make sure no more fights happen and that everyone is in their rooms by ten." Christy sighed in exasperation once she finished.  
  
"Ya, who's the one that can't face their own problems now?" Sara grumbled.  
  
Both friends gave each other a worried look before setting about to jobs that would keep them busy. Kat went to get something to clean up Sara's face without hurting too much. Christy went ahead and took the liberty of tidying up Sara's things and pulling out her nightgown. Soon bother girls had Sara healed up, dressed for bed and in somewhat of a better mood. This doing to the fact the Kat was rubbing Sara's shoulders as Christy rubbed her feet. After a while Sara started trying to shrug them off but they kept insisting that "their Lady" must be well cared for. Once they had Sara producing some giggles they finally relented and went to get ready for bed. When all were settling down to go to sleep at last Sara spoke up.  
  
"You guys are the greatest friends in the world. I don't know what I'd do without you." With that she yawned and turned out her lights. It was a nice thought, but Kat still felt sad for her. It must really be hard to say that to someone and lose then them.  
  
Closing her eyes Kat drifted off into a peaceful sleep at last.  
  
  
  
Kat was bored out of her wits. Trying to keep her promise to help Snape was harder than it seemed. The Slytherins whose minds she jumped into either didn't know anything or refused to think about. The bad thing was, she couldn't stay in there long enough to figure anything out. Pansy Parkinson always had this look on her face as if she were something special, and better yet, knew everything. Unfortunately, the only thing on her mind was how much power she could gain if she stayed with Draco. The minds of Crabbe and Goylle were something to shudder over. A few times Kat thought she had lost her touch when she got nothing from them, then realized they just didn't think often. Not surprising really. But when they did think, it was mighty perverted, and usually over girls, any girls, they were undressing with their eyes. Again, since they didn't think much, they were all images. Quite a few times Kat felt like clawing out her eyes and screaming "It burns!" when she would forget and brush their mind as she swept by their thoughts.  
  
Other Slytherins were just totally clueless on these subjects. Some hinted that they knew something but barely ever thought about it. Some were even trying to figure out what the others were up to. But the minds of these people seemed so unorganized, she supposed it was because she was so used to Snape. The thing about all the minds she jumped across though, was that they constantly thought about Draco. They all had their theories of him and what he could do and what he should do and all about his honor and family name. He had so much to live up to that Kat almost felt sorry for him. Almost.  
  
Added to those problems came those of Melanie. Sara seemed to be over it but the two rivals kept shooting looks to kill every time they saw one another. At one point the whole House seemed like it was going to choose sides between the two girls. But then friends, enemies, and Perfects came in and ended it before it started. Now all they did was stay out of the way and hoped they were set on fire by one of those looks. It surprised Kat that of how much was going on in Gryffindor, the rest of the Houses didn't seem to notice. Rumors usually spread as easy as hot butter among the whole school, but all these little things going on had been extremely secluded. This included some of the little things that never went outside a group of people in the House itself. Soon enough Kat felt like she knew more of Gryffindor and Slytherin affairs than even Dumbledore did. If that wasn't enough for her, her schedule got even busier.  
  
The meeting with Snape had been short. It was to determine a time to meet. They would end up meeting every Wednesday night and every other Saturday. On Saturdays Kat could make up any excuse she'd like to leave. But on Wednesdays she needed an alibi. This was simple enough, some study time in the library and a health walk around the castle. Or as she so like to refer to it, a Stress Walk. Mainly for the reason that her friends more readily believed she was trying to work off anger so she didn't punch somebody. In fact, they found it a pretty good idea but they usually were packed down with homework Wednesdays and couldn't come. This was a good thing, she didn't know what she'd make up if she had to bring along a friend.  
  
Soon Kat realized how loaded down she was. With all the work she was doing now, she might as well be exercising her mind every second. It wouldn't surprise her at all if she started contemplating things in her sleep from now on. This caused a whole new respect for Hermione Granger. That girl must be as busy as Kat considering she was a perfect as well as taking such advanced topics. Adding to that, her Ron and Harry had another plan hatching though Kat didn't know what. She might as well be just as over worked as Kat. Two of a kind really.  
  
Well, of all this it was no wonder that Kat was completely exhausted as she walked around in Care of Magical Creatures Class. Everyone was herded over to a big whole in the ground. Yup, that's all it was. No telling how deep, deep enough that the darkness obscured that bottom of it. They had been assigned to read some chapters on cave dwellers and underground creatures for today. Kat read them, just barely though. Hagrid was having fun seeing who could guess the creature down there first. Mostly people were clueless. Or, in more of the Slytherin's case, didn't care. Kat was just plain tired of guessing games considering she had been through them far too many.  
  
Looking over at the group of Slytherins she saw they were talking about something. And they all looked deadly serious. Taking the opportunity she quickly ran through their minds.  
  
"…This will be so great!"  
  
"Draco's a genius…"  
  
"…He'll never see it coming…"  
  
"…she better get it right this time…"  
  
"…cares anymore? I mean, I'm tired of the games…"  
  
"I don't get it…"  
  
The last one had to have been Goyle since his face suddenly looked blank. But that wasn't saying much for being out of the usual. The pieces of conversation didn't help her much, only sounded like it wasn't really that important. She wouldn't be surprised if there was a prank pulled on Neville soon.  
  
Hermione started jumping up and down with excitement next to Hagrid with that look on her face that said she had figured it out. Looking at Hagrid she said a word that Kat didn't quite catch, tired as she was. By the way Hagrid beamed, she had been tight though. Soon all curious looks were answered, well maybe not all, for Kat had a feeling some were more curious about the stunt the Slytherins were planning.  
  
"That's right! Wha's down there is'a scrouter." Hagrid called out cheerfully.  
  
"I don't remember reading about them." Ron stated indignantly.  
  
To everyone's not so surprise, Sara backed up the notion what an indignant "Ya!"  
  
"Well I figured since ya all read 'bout all da others in ya books, then we'd start off with a diff'ent 'un." He beamed and looked at Hermione. "How'd ya know?"  
  
"I read it in another book once. There isn't much on them though." Hermione said. She was most likely the only one who looked curious. Some of the other students, including Harry and Ron, started to look nervous. Hagrid didn't have a good reputation for kind fluffy animals after all.  
  
Hagrid then bent down to the edge of the hole and thumped on the ground with his hand in odd rhythmic beats. Hermione looked on in wide-eyed fascination. Whatever book she had read apparently didn't have much on what Hagrid was doing, just what it was. Of coarse, for the rest of the class, they hadn't a clue. Kat included.  
  
Soon the dirt around the edges of the hole started to move, and not just from Hagrid's pounding on the ground. A little black nose popped up from the rim of the whole and began to sniff the air excitedly. Even the Slythers stopped to stare at what exactly was going on. A very long snout soon followed and finally a heart shaped head. Two little tree clawed feet came to rest on the grass as the little eyes squinted in the light. It's little head never stopped moving around the air and sniffing, but thumps started coming from inside the hole. Hagrid had stopped beating the Earth to death and beamed at the little creature. The scrouter didn't seem to notice. It kept swinging around its entirely black head around through the air, occasionally stopping in Hagrid's directing, obviously knowing he was communication with the half giant.  
  
"This lil feller talks wi'h it's tail. Ya can also tell by the brown stripes on its black whe'er it's a male or female. Da male's 'ave long stripes from it's head ta it's tail, da female has 'em from da left ta right foot. This'n here is a male." Hagrid said in his best teaching voice.  
  
By this point the Slytherin's had lost their interest now and were back to plotting. Everyone else was gathered around as Hagrid taught everyone how to say "hello" in scrouter. He said that since everyone couldn't hit the ground in the same way the scrouter could tell a difference in who was talking to it. The scrouter never said "hello" to the same person twice, considering because it already had done so once. One by one everyone would come up and say hello and the scrouter would say it back. Occasionally somebody would try to say "hello" again, but it didn't say it back, proving Hagrid's point. It was really fun actually. Soon enough, some people wanted to know how to ask questions and Hagrid would interpret the answer. They ended up knowing a lot about the scrouter's personal life, it even made a couple of jokes.  
  
Kat started to wonder just what exactly it would be like if she caught a though from it's mind. So, having nothing better to do as everyone else fought over turns for their questions, Kat decided to take a peek in its mind. The thoughts she got were nothing but mentally thought out "thumps", or at least, the resonation of the sound to the little creature. Kat couldn't very well ask Hagrid what they meant, for the scrouter wasn't thumping those thoughts out loud. Kat wondered if it were possible to search around in the little thing's mind to find her own translation. Reading thoughts and searching for them were two different things entirely of coarse, and being that Kat had never really thought about it before now, she had never been tempted to try it. The closest she had ever gotten was going into Sara's dreams. Was that constituted as searching through her mind since she had interfered with the dream? Stuff to ponder on. But if it was searching, could she try it now? And what would happen if she did? Fear of hurting someone someday always scared Kat.  
  
Well, she'd never know unless she tried, and this was an animal, simpler mind right? It was a simple mission really, translate what it was thinking. So, pushing her nervousness aside she jumped into the scrouter's mind before she could stop herself. There was nothing but a series of thumps for a while, one on top of the other, just like a normal mind thinking of many things at once. Angling her hand so that the direction of her flow of power was more concentrated on the scrouter Kat looked around some more. Soon, she hit memories. These were visual, though it was more sound and sent than sight considering she was underground. It was odd though, the combination of such acute hearing with the distinguishing power of its smell left her used-to-seeing-images mind with this sketchy picture of what was around her. Some of the memories held a lot of emotion, even though to a human it would seem something little, to the scrouter it was big. And considering that Kat was in its mind, she felt the full force of these. The emotions the little creature felt all the time was just as good, or better, than that of a human's. It saw everything in the best way it could, such a nice way to get through life really.  
  
Residing herself to move on, Kat searched to the very subconscious on the scrouter's mind. There she found thought mingling with primital sense, leaving Kat's mind to finally interpret the thoughts. The thumps seemed to run through the back of its mind to the back of hers then to her conscience, processing mind. The thoughts of this little creature ran through her mind, not like that of a human's where it sounded like she could almost hear it. This was different, like it just echoed through her mind. And what it said was the last thing she'd expected.  
  
~Did you like your little escaped through my memories?~ It asked.  
  
Kat almost gasped, but stopped herself in time. She also almost spoke aloud, but caught herself and spoke back to it through the link she had created with their minds.  
  
~How did you know?~ She said, completely surprised.  
  
The scrouter did the equivalent of a laugh in her mind. Not one she would expect from a normal person, where it would be condescending for her ignorance because they knew something she didn't. This was more in real humor and understanding than anything else.  
  
~It was quite an odd feeling. I doubt I would have figured out what came over my mind had you not begun to communicate with me.~  
  
Kat was a bit confused by this, ~You talked to me first.~  
  
~Indeed I did. But I could feel you when you managed to understand my thoughts as your own. I felt a few of your own.~  
  
That Kat could understand. From what she had found out, scrouter minds were much more emotionally sensitive. Apparently to others too.  
  
~What exactly were you looking for, might I ask?~ It said, bringing her out of her thoughts.  
  
~I… I don't know really. I just wanted to understand I suppose.~ Really, it was a good question what she was doing in someone else's mind. She had no right to be there. Now Kat felt bad about the whole thing. Apparently, the scrouter sensed this as well.  
  
~I cannot blame one for their pursuit of knowledge. After all, that's why you all are here today talking to me.~  
  
Good point right there, but it didn't make her feel much better about it. ~I'm still sorry for invading your mind like this. But… It was a rather interesting experience. It's so unlike that of a human's.~  
  
~Well I would hope so! It said with that strange feeling of laughter again. We are of two different species after all. ~  
  
Kat also had to laugh a little at that - though she made sure to keep it in the confines of her mind - he did have a point. Kat's curiosity started to get the better of her so she decided to take the best of this educational opportunity.  
  
~What's your name?~ She asked, and felt a little foolish for the question. There could have been so many better things to ask, if only she could think of one that is.  
  
The scrouter seemed to be pleased by the question though. We do not have names such as yours. We are known by our frequencies of communication.  
  
This brought another good question to mind, ~Then how would you talk about someone else? Surely that would come up.~  
  
~Oh, indeed it does. We all choose our own frequency and can change it to match that of someone else we would wish to speak of.~  
  
Well, this made sense, after all, it was only humans who were devious enough to break a code of moral and pose as someone different. There was a point for the "primitive" species out there.  
  
The scrouter stopped moving its head around and looked directly at her as Hagrid stood up to tell the class something.  
  
~You have a special gift my dear. A powerful one indeed. Use it wisely and the Earth will always be on your side.~  
  
Though Kat wasn't completely sure what he meant by that it made her smile anyways. At least someone knew about what she could do and respected her for it as well as held her confidence. ~Thank you.~ She said and he smiled, in her mind, at her.  
  
~It was nice meeting you. Very educational for me as well. Very much so indeed.~ And with that he left.  
  
Coming out of its mind and back to the world at hand she heard Hagrid finishing up on some of the lectures he was prompted on by the students. By the time he was through, it was almost time to go to the next class. He walked off to prepare for the next class. This gave the Slytherin's the opportunity they needed, and with just enough time on their hands they banned together and managed to hex Neville into an orange penguin that talk- squawked in Neville's voice. The bell rang and the Slytherin's bolted from the scene before they could be caught. Seamus took the liberty of hefting to panicked penguin over his shoulder to carry it to the Hospital wing as Harry and Ron chased after Malfoy and Hermione tried to stop them.  
  
"Ron's so brave." Sara said in a dreamy voice, which caused everyone around her to roll their eyes.  
  
  
  
Wednesday night seemed to take longer than usual to come. She couldn't wait to try out her new power that she had discovered. She couldn't very well try it on anybody though. Even if the scrouter's emotions were way off the scale for sensitivity, it was too risky to try on a person. If they even figured it out, it would be the end of her. Now all she had to do was find a way to talk Snape into letting her try in on him. Granted, she knew it wasn't dangerous, but an animal's mind and a human's were two entirely different things after all. Kat wondered what it would feel like to have your mind invaded and be searched. It would most likely feel like Imperious she supposed, thought that was only a theory, it could feel entirely different. She also wondered whether it was possible to shield herself from anyone noticing that she was in their minds in the first place. Well, she wouldn't know until she tried.  
  
With these anticipation thoughts in her head all the time it finally came to the point where she was in front of Snape's classroom door. With her hand poised in front of it, ready to open but not quite making it. She had been nearly excited until she was in front of his door, now she was scared and nervous. ~Damn it.~ She thought and forced herself to open and walk through door.  
  
Snape was at his desk writing furiously over some papers. He made a noise in his throat to acknowledge that he knew she was there. Kat decided not to interrupt and went over to sit on one of the desks and wait. She figured that not wasting time would be first on Snape's list of priorities so she concentrated to see what he was writing on. It was a 3rd year potion's report that he apparently thought was completely horrible and was making that perfectly clear on the paper. He didn't write much of anything on his reports other than a grade. That meant when he did, it was bad. After a while of scribbling, it just got worse.  
  
Before Kat knew what she was doing she spoke. "Infinitesimal seemed bad enough, but I doubt profanity will do you much good if another professor sees it." Kat could have bit her tongue off when he looked up and glared at her with one of those "I'll rip your heart out looks".  
  
To her utter relief though, he didn't say anything. He did though take his wand and erase a few words before scribbling in a few last retorts and setting it aside. The words he had chosen were no less awful, but at least it didn't have profanity that the kid could get him in trouble for. It suddenly hit Kat that she was helping Snape stay out of trouble, and at cost of her own head by the look he had given her. Ah, how times change.  
  
Snape finally stood and walked over in front of his desk to search through a few things he couldn't reach from his chair without toppling them over. With how much work was stacked up there Kat was surprised he could keep it looking so neat and orderly. He seemed to be losing his anger so Kat decided now was as good a time as any to ask him.  
  
"I wanted to try something. I'm not quite sure how to manage it, but I was hoping you'd let me try."  
  
Snape snorted at this. That wasn't a good sign. "Ah, yes." He said sarcastically with a little sneer. "You want me to willingly give you my mind to whatever little idea you can come up with and hope it doesn't do any permanent damage. Why yes, Miss Jennings, I'd be perfectly happy to submit to that." Sarcasm was absolutely dripping with every word, but Kat decided to take it as a yes and try it anyway before he could protest. After all, he said yes.  
  
Kat reached out into his mind and began to run through it. His mind was so much more different than the scrouter, not like that was much of a surprise, but still. The layout of his mind was more on visual and mental alone. She could see the way his mind worked, in fact, she could see a transparent figure of herself gliding through his mind. It was well organized of coarse, as everything of Snape is. She saw something that looked interesting a little further forward and to her right. It looked like strips of paper flapping up from the floor. They were really tall and blocked view of what was behind it. She occasionally caught shimmering glimpses of something between the breaks in it. Maybe it was just another store to keep things to contemplate on later. Stuff he didn't want to think about all the time. It made sense, it was just what an organized mind like his would do.  
  
She couldn't very well stay wondering around like she was. That little place seemed much more interesting. What little things could he be keeping there? Maybe thoughts of his family? That thought alone gave her enough curiosity that she had to go and see. Pushing back one of the strips of paper the shimmering thoughts fell out of the flimsy barrier and engulfed her. Memories of Death Eaters and Voldemort and rituals flashed through her mind. Awful things happened before her. Hurt, pain, and terror were top of the list. Misery, loathing, and regret soon followed. These acts weren't just seen by Snape, but caused by him too. It started out as just turning a blind eye, then joining in little by little until he would show off what new malicious thing he could do next. Then he realized, realized all the things he had done and was doing. All those terrible acts and for what? What good was he doing? Why did these people deserve this? Why was he inflicting them with such pain that they couldn't bare?  
  
~Crack!~  
  
The sound echoed through the empty stone classroom like gunfire. Kat was snapped out of Snape's mind by the sound loud enough to call her back to the present. What was that? The he noticed him. Snape was rigid and breathing heavily, his head tilted down. His left hand was holding balance on his desk while the other held onto the edge of the desk. The broken edge. He had been gripping to hard that it had snapped. His knuckles were white and a bead of blood dripped down to the ground from the inside of his hand. Apparently he had seen the memories too. And apparently, that flimsy paper barrier was all he was capable of creating to hold them back. He was mad.  
  
As if on cue he whirled around to face her. A look of absolute rage on his face. Kat took an involuntary step back at the pure fury emanating from him. He spoke in a strained voice that chilled her to the bone. If his velvety smooth talk could send you shivering, constraint of him screaming was enough to make you cower.  
  
"Never," he said through gritted teeth and paused for emphasis, "Do ANYTHING without my permission." He started advancing on her and she stumbled backwards at his slow pursuit. "NEVER do that to ANYONE!" his voice was deep and menacing even when he screamed it out. "A person tends to push memories away that they DON'T want to see. A person would DEFINATLY not want them suddenly forced all at once back into his mind!"  
  
He was now only a foot away from her and she was running out of room. She knew she would hit the wall soon but didn't know where he would stop with him as mad as he was. Another step backwards sent her flying. He walked faster towards her as she fell backwards over a chair leg. Him mad. Her on the ground. The outcome of those two facts looked grim. In panic, one's mind has a strange tendency to forget logical and go straight to instinct. In this case, instinct Kat didn't know she had.  
  
The frightened prey released raw power yet again upon her enemies.  
  
A/N: Sorry about the corny title but we've been talking about that show a lot in Spanish and it seemed like such a good title for this chapter. Also, sorry about the updates be so far appart, I have this thing on long chapters if you couldn't tell. Well, while I'm on notes: Harry Potter 5 will be coming out soon and will probably mess up my story, as it will many others. So, I encourage you to read the book, love it, and pretend I'm still right. ;-) Well, if I can hold out on a certain part in my story until I read the book and can interperate it into my story I might be okay. But I doubt this. So, my fic will soon turn to AU. Ah well, I'll still enjoy writing this. Plz comment more! I love comments! And thanx to those who already have!  
  
P.S. - I'm having a Hell of a time tring to make my story show italics. So, you all are going to have to make do with squiggles instead. If anyone can explain what's going on to me, I'd be happy. 


	6. Mind over matter

Chapter 5  
  
"Ahh!"  
  
Kat hit the ground hard. She landed on her butt bone, jarring her entire body. It was funny really, in an odd sort of way. One can always complain of how big their butt looks, but when you fall on it it's nothing but bone and pain. ~The irony of it all,~ Kat thought as she stared at the ceiling. Taking a few breaths the pain dulled into an ache and her world slowed its spin. Odd. She hadn't noticed it was spinning until it stopped. A mind can play funny tricks really. For that matter, her mind was quite exhausted. She really didn't know why, she didn't remember using it much today at all. Powers or academics to be truthful. The whole day had been spent in an impatient blur waiting for tonight so she could try out that new power on Snape. The problem was talking him into it. Wait. Hasn't she been through this before?  
  
Suddenly it all came back in a jolt. Her invading Snape's mind, the memories, Snape getting mad. No, mad was a huge understatement, more like furious. He advanced on her. That look of death in his eyes. So where was he now? Now that she was on the floor and nowhere to run? Dread clenched her stomach at that thought. Pushing herself up quickly, but not to quickly since she had learned her lesson many times over about doing that, she looked around the empty room. Empty being the key word. Kat didn't know if she should take his absence as a good thing or a bad thing. But one thing was for sure as she looked around her, he wasn't here.  
  
A badly stifled moan came the desk right in front of her making her jump. A foot suddenly kicked out from behind it before drawing itself back into it's hiding place slowly. Taking a few steadying breathes Kat leaned forward onto all fours and peeked around the desk. Snape was lying there on the ground with his hands clenched to the sides of his head. They held their grip so tight it looked painful. He was slowly rocking sideways, lying on his back then to his side then back again. His legs were stretching and drawing back in, scraping across the floor. He looked for all his might as if he were trying to fight off something that wanted to control his mind. Or, that of a man to big to scream out in pain and rather whither from it. Kat banked on the letter of the two theories. What had she done?  
  
He was in so much pain and Kat was at a loss to what had just happened. It couldn't be the same as in the woods before otherwise everything around he would be slammed against the walls and he wouldn't be as close as he was to her. No, she had done something totally different, and once again had no idea what or how. Whatever it was she had done had caused a lot of pain. Immense amounts of it in fact. Why did this have to happen to her? For there was a very good chance that if Snape ever got over this, he ~would~ kill her. That was of coarse, assuming that he did. What kind of permanent damage could she have done to him?  
  
The little voice in her mind spoke up in its rationality once again. ~Well, you aren't helping him by sitting here and contemplating it now are you? Do something!~ Kat shook her head at the fact the little voice had been gaining a life of it's own for a while now. But it was right, she had to do something. Like what? Well, that was rather obvious really, ease the pain. But how?  
  
Kat thought about the other day and the drink he had given her. It had worked on all kinds of pains, though mainly for headaches. Well, his condition right now seemed to cover both aspects of the potion. Kat forced herself to her feet and ran over to the cabinet. For a fleeting moment she thought of just running out the door and never looking back. But the kinder and more rational side of her wouldn't let her. What kind of Gryffindor honor and bravery would that be?  
  
Stopping in front of the cabinet Kat racked her brain for exactly which bottle he had chosen. Well, she knew the general area and general size and remembered quite well the smell of it. So, grabbing the first bottle that might work Kat uncorked it and took a whiff. Then she instantly choked on the smell. Nope, not that one. Putting it back she grabbed another and followed the same procedure. Bingo. She Poured it into one of the small glasses until it was half full and then ran back over to Snape, while trying not to spill any. Once she was in front of him she was faced with another problem. He didn't look like he was ready to drink anything.  
  
Kat bent down beside him and waited until he was on his back once more. She put a hand on his forehead to hold him still. He was covered in a sheen of cold sweat and felt icy to the touch. That wasn't a good sign. A jerk spasmed through him and he tried to roll back over but she stopped him. He could hardly put up any resistance and finally gave in and consented to staying on his back while emitting a strangled sound of protest and pain. Wasting no more time Kat carefully tilted the glass to his lips hoping he would make an attempt to drink it. His mouth opened in the slightest, letting a small trickle in. Once he managed to swallow that past the obvious clamping of his throat he seemed able to drink a little more, then a little more. Soon, he had the whole glass down in a few more gulps. Breathing for him was still rapid but it came into his lungs easier. His death grip on his head slackened some and the jerky movements all but stopped.  
  
One eye slowly opened to squint up at her. All of her courage and bravado failed as she flinched and paled under the look they held. He may be weak looking, but those eyes forever held their ferocity. Soon, though that look seemed to resign and he closed his eyes again. He attempted speech but it wouldn't come out his still mostly constricted throat. Kat put a shaky hand over his head and listened to his thoughts instead.  
  
"What did she do to me?"  
  
That was a very god question, "Well-" she started to say, but he flinched at the sound. So she told him to his mind instead.  
  
"I'm not quite sure myself."  
  
A sharp intake of breath showed that he wasn't expecting to hear her voice in his head like that.  
  
"Just not possible to stay out of my mind for you is it?" even then she could hear the sneer in his thoughts.  
  
"I'm sorry. I." but she didn't know exactly what to say.  
  
Snape did the equivalent of a mental sigh. "It's not your fault I suppose. It would not have happened if I had not advanced on you like that."  
  
"I can't very well put all the blame on you." She admitted a little forcefully. "I shouldn't have tried that without knowing what to do."  
  
"No. I am here to help you learn to control your powers. But next time, I will be more prepared to guide you in where you can and can not go."  
  
Kat was about to say something but was momentarily stumped. Next time? He was actually allowing her a next time? Miracles never cease. "Thanks." She thought to him.  
  
"Don't." he said tiredly. "I believe our lessons are over for today. You may go." With that he took a deep breath but seemed to have no inclination to move.  
  
"I can't very well leave you here on the floor." She thought to him matter- of-factly.  
  
"Then what would you propose?" he thought mockingly and she blushed a little at his tone. He was a perverted little thing.  
  
"I'm afraid you are in no condition," She retorted and paused for good measure. "to lie on a stone floor all night that is." She completed her sentence in a tone of pure innocence.  
  
At this his lips twitched some at the corner of his mouth. Was that almost a smile? If it was she was only glad it wasn't a full blown one. She didn't know how many surprises she could take in one night. She decided to move into action before he found a better way to make her leave him alone. Truly, she didn't know why she insisted on it. She supposed that she really did have more scruples to leave a teacher lying on the floor when it was her fault in the first place.  
  
Kat took hold of his upper arm and proceeded into pulling him up. He seemed to want to refuse at first and didn't help in the slightest. When she refused to give up he realized how childish it was and struggled into a sitting position. He seemed completely spent from just that exertion but Kat wasn't giving up. Helping him out was keeping her mind off what he could do to her when he came to his full senses. Kat moved around behind him and took hold under both of his arms to heave him up. At a certain height she lost her advantage of taking most of his weight so it was mainly up to him. He griped a chair with all his might as he tried to get up. When he was finally on his feet he stumbled forward some. Kat wasn't going to let him get away with that, not when she was already breath heavier than usual just after that much. Snape was much heavier than he seemed.  
  
Quickly Kat jumped up to his side and took hold of his arm. Pulling it around he should once he was relatively steady she let him balance on her. Which wasn't much fun since he was quite a bit taller than she, a lot of weight was put on her. Her heart went out to Atlas just then, for all she had to deal with was Snape, look at all her had on his shoulders. Pushing that thought out of her mind she focused on walking him to his office. It wasn't an easy trip, or a short one. After a while though she managed to get him behind his desk and into his not so comfy chair.  
  
He plopped down into the chair and leaned his head back, looking totally exhausted. Kat leaned against his desk some and was breathing heavily when she realized she had broken a sweat. Once she caught her breath again she felt eyes on her. She looked up to see him staring at her with an odd, hooded look. She smirked at him.  
  
"Was it good for you?" she asked in a small voice. She couldn't believe she just said that.  
  
An amazing thing happens when he's tired and spent, he laughs. Maybe not a big laugh, but he was tired and he had just gotten his voice back. But none the less, it was a laugh. Kat found herself smiling as well at that. At least it didn't get her in trouble. Then again, he was probably too tired.  
  
She shivered just then. The cool air of the dungeons added to the drying sweat was cooling her off rapidly. She realized Snape wouldn't have the energy to move for a while and it wasn't like he kept a spare blanket in his office. So, not knowing what else to do Kat cast a warming charm in the office and got a funny look from Snape.  
  
"I know it will wear off." She said indignantly. "But I've timed mine to two hours before it fades off. Hopefully by then you'll have enough energy to move off to your chambers. If you fall asleep then the cold will wake you up."  
  
"You are such a thinker." He said sarcastically.  
  
Kat tried her best to bite off the snide comment forming on the end of her tongue. A battle of words was not what she needed to get into right now. Instead she smiled brightly at him and said a cheery "G'night Professor Snape." And walked from the office. His only response was a weak "humph" before she closed the door and walked out of the classroom.  
  
Trudging back up all those steps weren't going to be fun, but at least it gave her a little time to think. But soon, all thoughts except the one of going to her room and getting a good night's sleep, were out of her mind. About half way back up the steps to the tower she heard Sara call out to her from somewhere below. Looking down she saw Sara tearing up the stairs after her and stopped next to her at last just the slightest bit out of breath.  
  
"I'm glad I caught you." She said cheerily after she caught her breath. "I finished my work early and thought I'd join you on your walk." She checked her watch, "You're about half way done already I suppose. But better late than never." She giggled, "It took me forever to find you! You don't mind if I walk with you for now then?" she finally finished rambling.  
  
Kat suppressed a groan. Poetic justice comes when least expected. Resigned Kat gave Sara a cheery "Sure." And forced her screaming muscles to walk the long way back up to the tower. She was going to be cramped tomorrow.  
  
  
  
Kat groaned as she put her head in her arms at the small table. It had been weeks since the failed lesson with Snape. She had been afraid to go back at first but he had insisted. Since then it had all been work and no talk. Which she didn't mind at all, she didn't know what to say. But this did have an up side, she could now go for two minutes in someone's mind before an overload. That was giving her more time to work on the Slytherin project, which wasn't coming along at all. Malfoy seemed to be the only one that thought about what he had to do for any dark forces. The problem was he wasn't sure he wanted to. This had surprised Kat at first, but after a while of different "tests" they were trying to put him through, it was understandable. His dad gave him no help, if he didn't do everything the best he could, he'd be punished and turned away from. If he asked his dad for help, or maybe just to talk about something, anything by the jist of it, then he was being weak and not working. By the time all of the Malfoy family dynamics had come out to Kat, she had wanted to go take care of the senior herself. Still, all this didn't make Draco good. He was just depressed and trying to use this to his advantage. In fact, he was organizing the whole "Dark Lord takes over school" thing. Which ended up scary because even though most of them were in Slytherin, there were a lot in the other houses too. And she had a feeling that there were more she didn't know about.  
  
This led to another problem, Snape wanted to know. Which by their "no talking, all business" rule, she wasn't comfortable with talking to him about Draco's problems. She did tell him who all was in on this. He didn't seem surprised to hear of all those in the other houses though. The fact that more could be found in the other houses was making her suspicious of everyone, Melanie included. That led to a big problem right there. Not soon after the fight, Kat had gone to find Melanie and explained what was going on with Sara and was ready to cuss her out for it. Melanie had gone pale at the news and said that she had had a bad night and a bad day and had thus been in a bad mood. She hadn't meant to be so mean to Sara, it was only that she had accidentally let out her anger on her and hadn't known what was going on. She apologized to everyone, from Kat to Sara, and right down to McGonagall for causing the fight. Then, Kat, Sara, Christy, and Melanie had all become friends. So, suspicious or not, Kat felt bad about invading a friend's mind, so she never did.  
  
This only made Kat more worried about everyone and everything they did. Though she knew Harry, Ron, and Hermione weren't in lead with the Dark Lord, they were always up to something that involved him. And they were sure up to something now, but she didn't know what. This gave her another mission: find a way to befriend the group, and then earn their trust. All the while making sure ~her~ friends didn't know what was going on. Then in the midst's of all that she had to make sure to work with her powers outside of Snape's classroom. That, she was falling behind on because of the other stuff she had to do, like schoolwork. It did come in handy though when she needed a quill or parchment across the room, when no one was around that is. Right now she would give anything if that power could help her with her transfiguration homework.  
  
Sighing, Kat lifted her head up and looked at the extra chair she had pulled up beside her. She was trying her best to turn it into a chair like those in the common room, but it refuse to do anything. The arms on the chair would grow larger, but they were still hard as wood, and the seat of it would get little designs, but it wouldn't do anything else. Well, looks like remodeling her house wasn't in her future. Kicking the stubborn chair Kat sat back in her own and rubbed her eyes. If only she could use her powers on it. But that wouldn't work, what would she do, lift it to cushions?  
  
Then a small voice in the back of her head, one that had been suggesting theories on her powers since she got them, proposed a very interesting idea. What if she could focus her power through her wand to enhance her own magic? It was an interesting idea, but how much would it help, if it helped at all? Well, she wouldn't know until she tried. To be on the safe side though, it might be best to start with something small. A lumos should work fine.  
  
Taking a breath Kat picked up her wand off the table and checked out the empty bedroom again to make sure no one had snuck in on her. Focusing her power through the wand wasn't as easy as expected. The core of her wand was magical and it was having a hard time accepting the extra power going into it. But it worked soon enough and she was ready. Taking a breath to calm the unexplainable butterflies in her stomach, Kat muttered "~Lumos.~"  
  
The light that came out of the wand was so bright that Kat yelped and covered her eyes, forgetting the source was coming from her right hand. Since she had stopped the flow of her own energy into her wand it took three times - the last being a scream - to put out the wand. Kat blinked repeatedly to clear away the spots in her eyes. Fang was barking like crazy and could be heard from across the lawn. Had he seen the light? Of coarse he did! A blind person could have seen it! It was like twenty spotlights coming out her window all at once. Worst of all she had screamed, and that meant people must have heard her. What was she going to tell them?  
  
Franticly Kat searched her room trying to find something to explain away what happened. The extra chair sat there like an offering. Thinking quickly, Kat set it on fire, messed up her hair, and backed away from it while putting on a nervous look. It was all in time for McGonagall, Sara, and Hermione - in that order - to enter her room. Taking one look around, McGonagall put out the fire and assessed the damage.  
  
"I think you've pushed yourself enough tonight Miss Jennings." She said. "You look tired and Advanced Transfiguration is not what you need to be working on right now." She gave a soothing smile, which didn't settle Kat's nerves in the least. Well, maybe it was a good thing that's all she thought had happened.  
  
Christy came pounding up the stairs and stood out of breath behind Sara, both having worried looks on their faces. Kat had to say something, "I'm sorry Professor," Kat said sincerely, even though that hadn't happened, she was sorry for the mess she had made of everything. "I just couldn't get it down and I got fed up and I guess I just wasn't concentrating." Well most of it was the truth. Seeing the look on McGonagall's face kept her going. "It's only 8:30 ma'am, I promise not to loose concentration like that again, I can work a little longer." That part was out of desperation. She had been more caught up in the rest of her problems than working on her homework; she didn't need sleep as much as she needed time. Or so she thought.  
  
McGonagall took on a thoughtful look, turned and asked all but Hermione to leave the room. That's when Kat noticed Melanie had joined the group without her seeing. After the door was closed McGonagall took on her business like manner. "I've noticed that you haven't been doing as well in class over the last month. Though I don't know if anything else has come up in your life, I do know that you have been slowing you usual progress in class. If there's anything on you mind I want you to know that I am there to talk to." She gave Kat a meaningful look, "In the meantime, I think you should have a tutor to work with until you can once again regain your usual good work." All that pretty talk was to cover up the fact that she wanted to give Kat a tutor. A tutor? That wasn't going to go well with all that she had to do already. Then it hit her, Hermione. "Miss Granger, I hope you would be willing to help Miss Jennings out?"  
  
Kat glanced at Hermione and saw the flicker of "Oh, no!" cross her face before she smiled brightly and nodded her head. "I would be glad to Professor."  
  
"Good," McGonagall smiled back, obviously missing that flicker on Hermione's face. "Now Miss Jennings," Kat looked back at her, "You two can start tutoring tomorrow, but I want you to get some rest. If you have other homework I would suggest it and not Transfiguration." With a stern look that made Kat nod longer than probably needed she bid her farewells and left.  
  
Kat's first though was, "bad" at the thought of a tutor. Then she remembered once again it was Hermione. This could be perfect! It was just what she needed, an excuse to be near one of the group. Hermione obviously didn't like this and Kat could tell by the look on her face she had just as much to worry about as herself. Hermione, also looking deep in thought, stood there a minute fighting off a worried look and then said with a smile, "Tomorrow after dinner? We can leave early together and work in a quieter common room."  
  
Not knowing what else to say Kat simply nodded. This seemed to do Hermione just fine as she said a far to perky "Great!" and bolted from the room. Sara, Christy, and Melanie came into the room and gave Kat curious looks. Before they could say anything Kat answered all questions with a half sad, "I'm being tutored."  
  
Apparently to them it had come out really sad so they all went to counseling her about it and slowly to talking about something else altogether to get her mind off of things. Really, Kat was trying to hold in her excitement. If she couldn't figure out what was going on from Draco, then she'd get it from the next best thing: Harry and company.  
  
  
  
Snape was becoming more agitated. There were times when he wouldn't be in his classroom or office, but leave a note to Kat saying that she should skip training tonight and they'd make it up later. In his classes he was yelling and scolding to the point people were accusing him of messing up the potion himself or flat out seeing things. Kat was worried about him but couldn't read his mind because after working with her for so long he knew how it felt and would send a venomous glare at her when she tried. Getting on the wrong side of Snape would be very bad at the moment. So Kat tried resorting to others that might know what he was up to. The only one with anything somewhat relating was Draco.  
  
That was a story in itself. Draco's mind was becoming almost unreadable. Thoughts ran by his head all the time, to the point Kat was astonished that he could get through class at all. His father was constantly on his mind. Going from an occasional worry about pleasing him to an all out ulcer on his part. Something was going on and Draco was finding it hard to keep his neutral - if you could call it neutral - stance. According to half his thoughts, Draco resented being so thrilled when he was younger at joining the Dark Side. Something had happened to him that shook him to the core and made him reconsider. Kat hadn't a clue what it was, every time he almost thought about it, he push it away again. She couldn't just go in there and find out because he would see it himself and then he might know what was going on. At least, she told herself that, really she just didn't want to put him through all that. It was another mystery to add to the confusing jumble of Draco Malfoy.  
  
Then there was Hermione. Tired didn't even come close to describing what she looked like all the time. The only time Harry and Ron looked rested was before a Quidditch match. That still didn't help Hermione. Transfiguration looked as if it was hard enough to keep up herself than having to tutor Kat as well. The library was rarely seen without Hermione and a pile of books around her. If anyone asked he about it she would always say "Oh, just studying too hard." or "A little insomnia, that's all." It was said that Madam Pomfrey had given Hermione some dreamless sleep potions, but to anyone's best knowledge, she never took them. The two friends that should be most worried about Hermione's tired disposition were Harry and Ron. Usually though, they looked just as tired or worse and said nothing about it. There were also times when the three couldn't be found anywhere. A mental sweep of the school from Kat found them in Myrtle's bathroom. Why? She still hadn't a clue.  
  
Anything else? Oh yes. After the untimely death of a best friend, Sara had been closer to all the friends she had. Anything that showed the smallest sign that they were acting out of the norm and Sara was on the case. This didn't help Kat at all. Sara was worried sick about her and how stressed she looked. Finally Kat gave Sara an excuse that she was worried about Voldemort coming back and causing trouble among the school. This caused a great deal of counseling to take part on Kat, but Sara seemed satisfied. That didn't last long. Soon, Sara started to see little things she found suspicious. Harry, Ron, and Hermione among them, and Draco's lack of insult and make up of it when he looked extremely agitated. Unfortunately, Sara's curiosity got the better of her when she was trying to spy and caught Draco pacing in a rarely used hallway in front of a tapestry. He saw her and she spent a while in the Hospital wing after the hex. Sara only told Kat what she saw though, saying that she couldn't turn him in because there was something different about him. Kat was confused and Madam Pomfrey looked disbelieving that Sara couldn't remember anything but let it drop.  
  
If things couldn't get better, it got worse. Winter was upon them and Christmas break was coming up. Before it did a massive blizzard came to beat at the walls of Hogwarts. This was unlike any other that had happened before though. Overnight the grounds were so covered Hagrid was forced to come and stay inside. Where they found an empty room Kat didn't know, but no one asked after the look on Hagrid's face when everyone assumed he was told of his sleeping arrangements. The snow also took out all Herbology classes until further notice. Trelawny was making death predictions with more worry in her voice than anyone ever expected to truly be there. Astronomy was getting more and more uncomfortable to teacher and student alike by how everything was lining up in the skies. As the blizzard tore on Ron was becoming noticeably jumpy. Hermione seemed to have stopped sleeping all together, not that it mattered much, her constant state of worry seemed to keep her wide-awake. According to rumor, Harry's scar had been burning so much lately he had to put potions on it just to be able to see and make it through his classes.  
  
Kat's friends didn't react well to the storm either. Christy admitted she was very unnerved by it, Melanie refused to talk about it, and Kat was getting worried because of them. Sara had to be the strangest reaction yet. The longer the storm went on, the more she would "investigate." She would be gone at great lengths of time with her obsession to spy on Draco. The more she did so, the less Draco would be seen anywhere but classes. Even Crabbe And Goyle seemed a bit put off by the amount of free time they had now that they weren't being bossed around. If anyone else noticed it, they gave no sign of showing it. Snape was becoming nearly absent all the time, about as much as Draco, so she couldn't report anything to him. This was all too strange.  
  
Kat signed up to stay over for the Holidays. Usually Sara or Christy would ask her to come and stay at one of their houses. Christy was going on a trip and so Kat had to stay behind for lack of funding on her part. Sara never asked which only worried Kat more and Melanie hadn't known her long enough so she couldn't hold it against the girl. Everybody in the school was so unnerved by everything that very few decided to stay. A pass in the hallway and a quick sweep in the mind of a very angry Draco showed that he had wanted to go home but was forced to stay here. Really, by the feel of emotions that ran though his mind Kat noticed that he was more afraid that mad. The anger was all a cover up so no one would bother him, and it worked. Now if only Kat could figure out what had Draco so mad, or if she truly wanted to know.  
  
Back in the Common Room after the last day of classes before break it was relatively empty. Everyone was either doing some last minute packing or visiting friends to help them pack. Kat noticed Hermione in a corner behind a large pile of books and went over to talk to her. What she was going to say, she didn't know, but at least it was someone to talk to. With all this tension in the air no one was around or willing to have a good conversation and Hermione looked like she needed a pointless chat.  
  
"Hey Hermione." Kat said while sitting down in a seat next to hers.  
  
Hermione shoved a piece of parchment she had been writing on in the book and slammed it shut before turning and giving Kat a nervous smile. "Hey. are you staying over?" It almost sounded like an attempt to keep talk away from what she had been doing.  
  
Kay played along. "Yes. I don't really feel like going back the orphanage." She said it lightly but Hermione still took on a sympathetic look.  
  
"I would invite you to stay at my house for Christmas but I'm staying over to." She gave a tired smile.  
  
"Well I appreciate the thought!" Kat said happily and they both chuckled a little. ~At least someone's thinking about me.~ She thought to herself. Then she felt bad for it, she really didn't want to blame her friends for anything here lately. If anything ~she~ had been the one who was distant.  
  
Harry walked into the common room and Hermione almost ran over to him immediately then remembered Kat was there. "I have to go." She said quickly.  
  
Kat tried to take this to her advantage. While reading her thoughts she said, "Where are you going?" in as much of a general curiosity tone as she could.  
  
While sweeping up some books Hermione thought, ~To possibly meet my doom in that stupid hallway.~ But she said, "I have to return some books to the library."  
  
Kat smiled kindly as both said their farewells. The funny thing was that the mental image of the hallway Hermione was thinking about was the same that Sara had described before with her encounter with Draco. As Harry and Hermione left Kat was becoming more and more upset. She had to find out what was in that hallway that was so important. But how? Then it hit her, Myrtle's bathroom. Maybe it was more than just a meeting place.  
  
Kat jumped up and was ready to head off in a break neck run down the halls when a book on the ground caught her eye. It was the book Hermione had been trying to hide from her. After a short mental battle Kat picked it up and turned to the marked page. The writing on the parchment didn't make any sense, but the book pages did. It was highly sophisticated Astronomy reading and the parchment was full of the calculations. After a little while Kat understood why Hermione was worried. It by the book's said by the book's translation "A powerful force will overtake one of great standing by coming into their ranks." That came out as only one thing: Voldemort was coming into Hogwarts and was going to kill Dumbledore. But it was said all the time that the stars can change, but that's exactly what Hermione and them were planning. They were going to stop it. Then what was in Myrtle's bathroom?  
  
Wasting no time Kat ran out the portrait hole and straight towards the bathroom as fast as she could. Slamming into the door as she came in she startled Myrtle. "Just who do you think you are disturbing me like this?" she phased through a stall door and pouted at Kat. "Everyone's always being mean to be like this. Barging in on me, not caring about my feelings, everyone hates me!" after that she burst into tears.  
  
Kat tried to ignore her as she searched around through the bathroom. The first three stalls were empty, but when she moved to the forth - and last - Myrtle blocked her way. "Move." Kat said rather urgently.  
  
"Just what are you looking for?" Myrtle said suspiciously and sniffed a little.  
  
"Just what are you hiding?" Kat retorted.  
  
"I'm not hiding anything," she said matter-of-factly and stuck her nose in the air, "I'm just protecting."  
  
"Protecting what?" Kat said bewildered. "Since when do you do favors for anyone?"  
  
If ghosts could blush Myrtle did. "Well.I." but she never really said anything. She just stammered on while trying to look at anyone but Kat.  
  
Annoyed, Kat tried to reach around her to open the door and barely got her hand away in time as Myrtle came to block it. Her mouth was shut tight, nose in the air, arms folded, and a look of defiance on her face. Kat fumed. Hermione could be out there trying to get herself killed and Myrtle wouldn't help her save them! ~Very~ angry, Kat shouted, "Move!" at her.  
  
To her surprise, the door swung open at the command and Myrtle still hung in the air not knowing it had. Glancing at Myrtle - who had her eyes shut in determination - Kat looked into the stall. A potion was silently bubbling on top of the toilet and a book was on the floor next to it. There was a bookmark in it, and while making sure Myrtle still wasn't looking, Kat used her powers to open it to that page. The potion was called "Elixir of Life" which made Kat think it was a very corny name. She could see what it said it could do, but she could see the symbol that showed if a potion was poisonous, dangerous, illegal, or rare. It had all four on it. Well, if Kat couldn't find out here what it did, Snape would know. And Snape would have to tell her because it would technically be putting a student in danger if he didn't.  
  
Not waiting another second Kat ran back out of the bathroom - which made Myrtle finally look up with a confused look - and ran down the stairs. Halfway down Kat spotted Draco sneaking off down a hallway. He looked enraged, that meant he was extremely worried. Kat reached out to his mind and held on to the rail to keep for passing out.  
  
~That stupid know-it-all, he thinks he can rule my life? I'll show him, I'll show him I'm not as worthless as he thinks I am. I need help to open it? Ha! I can open as many portals as I like. I already took down the enchantments, but do I get credit for it? Of coarse not! 'Others helped me put up the wards' he says. They didn't do shit when they were there! I'll show him, I can be just as powerful as he is. I'll be the best in Voldemort's eyes. I'll get him in the school with no one's help. I'll-~  
  
Kat couldn't go on, she couldn't read anymore. It was enough for her to know what was going on. Somehow Draco was going to get Voldemort into the school just to show up his father and most likely Hermione, Harry, and Ron were going to be right there when it happens. They could all be killed!  
  
Taking deep, raged breath fairly quickly Kat ran back down the stairs again. She had to get to Snape and tell him what was going on. If Draco was still able to get away with it then that means he didn't know. That they knew he was a spy. If Draco opened the gate and Snape left to "spy" they would all be killed! Jumping the last few steps and ignoring the pain in her legs Kat ran at full force to the potion's classroom.  
  
  
  
AN: I really don't know why, but it won't show the paragraph breaks. Maybe it will fix itself, I really hope it does. Until then, sorry.  
  
Anywho! Sorry it took so long to update, I had a bit of writers block and then ff.n went down. But that's okay, I'm back and working again. My wonderful, great amounts of free time ends tomorrow. *sigh* Oh well, I'll get over it. If you find any major grammer mistakes in this, I do apoligize, I've been having insomnia and I write pretty late. Well, I finally have an idea for chap 2 of Kerioke Night, so I must get to work. Hope you enjoyed the belated chapter! 


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